Chiefs DE BJ Thompson to start season on NFI list

SAINT JOSEPH, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have a number of roster moves coming into training camp.

Defensive end BJ Thompson will begin the season on the non-football injury (NFI) list according to head coach Andy Reid. On June 6 during voluntary offseason practices, Thompson suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting .

Thompson was released from the hospital four days later. Reid said that Thompson is going through recovery procedures and is doing great.

Cornerback Jaylen Watson, defensive end Charles Omenihu (torn ACL in AFC Championship), offensive guard Joe Thuney (torn pec), and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (elbow) will also begin the year on the physically unable-to-perform (PUP) list.

Omenihu, Thuney, and Nnadi all missed Super Bowl LVIII while Watson played in the game to help the Chiefs win back-to-back Super Bowls.

This leaves the Chiefs with five roster spots to use if they choose to fill those slots.

Reid that Thuney is also “doing great” and that he is close to returning.

Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy participated in two days of rookie minicamp and a few days of offseason workouts before being held out as a precaution with a hamstring injury.

Reid said he’ll look to ease the first-round pick into getting reps as the quarterbacks and rookies get the first three days of training camp to themselves starting on Wednesday.

“He’s looking forward to it, actually,” Reid said about Worthy. “He wants to get in there and go. It was driving him crazy to have to watch. You don’t want to be the number one pick, come in and be sitting on the bench and watching. He’s a competitive kid that wants to be in there. And we’re gonna get him going. We just got to see how he’s doing here and like I said, in this rookie camp, these lines are short, so they’re gonna get plenty of reps. You just don’t want him re-hurting the thing.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eager to prepare his team for their quest to win three straight Super Bowls—a feat no NFL team has done—and wants Worthy to be ready to go as soon as possible.

“There’s no easing, he’s gonna have to be ready to go,” Mahomes said. “We got a lot of competition on this offense. [General manager] Brett Veach and Coach Reid did a great job bringing a lot of competition in. [Worthy] got a lot of mental work in these last few weeks he had during OTAs and minicamp, but it’s time to go now.

“Y’all saw it with Rashee [Rice] last year and some of the throwing-up days he had. We’re gonna push you to the limit and prepare yourself to be ready to go for the season and that’s not just him. That’s everybody. Everybody has to have that mentality when they come into camp.”

Cornerback Nazeeh Johnson and linebacker Leo Chenal will also be practicing with the young players. Johnson is returning to the rotation coming off of a torn ACL he suffered in training camp last year at the Missouri Western State University indoor facility last season.

Chenal also was held out of practice during offseason workouts with a back injury.

The rookies and young players will practice over the next three days in sessions closed to the public before the rest of the team reports on Friday and have their first full-team practice on Sunday.

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