Alex Smith Injury Update: Chiefs QB Ruled Out for Week 9 vs. Jaguars

Nick Foles will start at quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars after Alex Smith was ruled out Wednesday.  

BJ Kissel of the Chiefs' official website passed along the news. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports noted the Chiefs confirmed Smith will be inactive for the Week 9 contest.

Smith's status has remained a question mark since Sunday's victory over the Indianapolis Colts, when he was ruled out with a concussion after hitting his head on the turf twice. Although he returned after the first instance, he didn't come back after the second apparent injury in the third quarter.

On Monday, however, Chiefs head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder backtracked on the concussion diagnosis. He stated there was a miscommunication while Smith was going through the protocol for a second time Sunday, per Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star: "We don't think that in either episode he had a concussion. I know there was some confusion yesterday."

He added: "We're going to be cautious and we're going to take him through all those steps before we put him back on the field, just to make sure we're not missing anything."

When asked Wednesday whether he felt like he suffered a concussion, Smith replied: "nope," according to Kissel.

So even though neither Smith nor the Chiefs believe the quarterback suffered a concussion against the Colts, it sounds like the team will put him through the testing regimen for a head injury this week as a safety precaution, and he'll miss at least one game as a result.

Foles played well in relief of the veteran starter against Indianapolis. He completed 16 of his 22 passes for 223 yards to go along with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It's important to note those numbers came against the league's 31st-ranked pass defense, though.

The Chiefs' passing game figures to face a far more difficult test against the Jaguars, who rank eighth against the pass so far in 2016. The biggest key for Foles, who's tossed 22 touchdowns and 20 interceptions since the start of the 2014 season, will be protecting the ball like Smith, a prototypical game manager.