Walker III Questionable vs. Falcons After Missing Friday Practice

The Kansas City Chiefs could be without their leading rusher Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after Kenneth Walker III missed Friday’s practice with groin tightness.

Kansas City added Walker to the injury report as questionable for Sunday’s game, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Walker reported discomfort when he arrived at the team facility Friday morning, according to Reuters.

Reid said the team would see how Walker felt after getting treatment Friday. The running back had been absent from the injury report earlier in the week.

Walker has rushed for 872 yards through eight games in his first season with Kansas City. That puts him second in the NFL, eight yards behind Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. Sunday’s game could bring the league’s top two rushers onto the same field if Walker is able to play.

Walker is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has seven rushing touchdowns. He has also caught 26 passes for 172 yards and four scores, giving Patrick Mahomes a reliable option out of the backfield.

The Chiefs saw how much Walker can do in both phases last week. He scored three touchdowns in Kansas City’s 35-12 win over the New York Jets, his fifth game with multiple touchdowns this season.

If Walker sits, rookie Emmett Johnson is the Chiefs’ next-leading rusher with 111 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Johnson has averaged 4.3 yards per attempt in a limited role. He could see more work even if Walker plays but the Chiefs choose to limit his carries.

Kansas City enters the game at 6-2. Walker has supplied much of its rushing production, and his receiving work means the Chiefs would have to account for his absence on passing downs as well. How Kansas City divides those snaps would be one of the biggest questions if he can’t go.

Walker is also closing in on a team milestone. He needs 64 rushing yards to surpass Isiah Pacheco’s 935-yard season in 2023, the highest single-season total by a Chiefs running back since Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018.

For now, the Chiefs are waiting to see how Walker responds to treatment. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Kansas City’s backfield workload still up in the air.