Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin’s Sunday MRI revealed a high ankle sprain, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
His status for next week’s game at Gillette is in doubt, but the news is better than initially feared. The oft-torn ACLs of Maclin appeared to again be in danger but that bullet’s been dodged by KC.
Maclin was by far the leading wide receiver for the Chiefs this season with 87 catches for 1,088 yards and eight touchdowns. Albert Wilson was the second leading wideout for KC with 35 catches.
"Maclin has done a good job for them," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "Obviously Andy [Reid] had him in Philadelphia and probably knows him better than anybody – knows how to use him, knows the things he’s good at. He’s been very productive for them, gets the ball to him.
"Maclin is very good after the catch. He’s hard to bring down. He’s an excellent runner with speed and elusiveness and he has good playing strength, so he’s challenging to cover and he’s challenging to tackle, whether it’s kind of conventional run after catch plays or whether it’s some element of a protective play – slip screens and things like that – speed sweeps or reverses or other ways they get the ball to him. He’s been productive and he’s got a lot of good skills and Andy does an excellent job of getting him the ball."
The Chiefs have a very good running game and an outstanding tight end in Travis Kelce, but the Patriots undoubtedly will now be able to devote even more effort to stopping Kelce.