Louis Rees-Zammit’s hopes of landing a permanent NFL deal with the Kansas City Chiefs have been dealt a blow by injury.
The 23-year-old former Wales rugby winger missed training on Wednesday with a back injury and is a doubt for Sunday’s pre-season game against the Detroit Lions.
First ever football game ✅
Time to learn from every moment and get better 🙏🏽🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/OQlwscL3Q4
— Louis Rees-Zammit ⚡️ (@LouisReesZammit) August 14, 2024
Rees-Zammit caught the eye in the first pre-season game, a 26-13 defeat at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He saw action as a running back, kicker, kick-returner and on the punt coverage team in that match, breaking a tackle and finishing with one yard on two carries, one reception for three yards and making one tackle on special teams.
With only three pre-season games available to make an impression, and the Chiefs’ final one against the Chicago Bears just 10 days away, an injury would hurt his chances of landing a place on the 53-man roster for the new season which has to be confirmed on August 27.
Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub confirmed Rees-Zammit’s back injury as he said his players needed to work on returning kicks after an error in the game against the Jaguars in Florida.
“We just need to get more reps out there and make sure it’s clear what the rules are,” Toub told reporters.
“Obviously we made a mistake in the game. It ended up costing us, but it’s a great learning experience for us. I want to see [Rees-Zammit], but he didn’t practice today. He might not be available. We’ll see, but there’s a lot of guys I want to see. We’ve got time to do that.”
The defending NFL Champion Chiefs play their season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead on September 6th.
