It looks like the Chiefs are going to have to play the first month or so of the regular season without linebacker Joe Mays.
Mays, who was projected to start alongside Derrick Johnson at inside linebacker, had wrist surgery recently and Adam Caplan of ESPN reports that he will miss at least six weeks while recovering from the operation. If that timeline holds, Mays would miss the first four games of the season and might not return until after the Chiefs bye in Week Six.
The Chiefs have a few options to use in Mays’s place. Nico Johnson started the team’s last preseason game and James Michael-Johnson and Frank Zombo also saw time in Mays’s spot during the contest. Josh Mauga is expected back from injury to make his case during Thursday night’s preseason finale and then the team will sort out the pecking order for the season opener against the Titans.
With wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and tackle Donald Stephenson set to serve suspensions while Mays is out in the early part of the season, it will take some time before the Chiefs get whole this season.