The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in the past four seasons, but they are pretty beat up in the buildup to the big game. Of course, we all know about the ankle injury Patrick Mahomes has been dealing with, but several key players picked up injuries in their AFC Championship victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, which has put their status for Super Bowl 57 in jeopardy.

There's still a lot of time for these guys to get healthy, but two such players that the Chiefs lost against the Bengals were wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney. As practice kicked off for the Chiefs on Thursday, neither guy was on the field, but when speaking to the media afterwards, Andy Reid sounded optimistic that both guys would be ready to go by the time the big game kicks off Sunday, February 12th.

Via Adam Teicher:

“Reid was particularly optimistic that among the injured players Toney and JuJu would be able to play in the Super Bowl. On JuJu, Reid said, ‘He's in a good place.'”

Other key players that weren't able to practice were Mecole Hardman and L'Jarius Sneed. Missing Sneed, who is dealing with a concussion, would be particularly brutal considering his status as the team's top cornerback, and while being without Hardman would be a tough pill to swallow, it would be a much easier absence to overcome if Smith-Schuster and Toney can play.

Patrick Mahomes is still going to be dealing with his ankle injury, so he's going to need all the help he can get in this game. While it's a bit worrisome to see these guys all unable to practice on Thursday, it sounds like there's a sense of optimism that the Chiefs will be able to get themselves as healthy as possible ahead of their Super Bowl matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.