NFL Rumors: Chiefs' Tyreek Hill Likely to Avoid IR After Shoulder Injury

The Kansas City Chiefs will likely avoid having to place injured wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the injured reserve/designated to return list.

Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star reported the news, adding there is no timetable at the moment and there will be "milemarkers to pass along the way."

Earlier on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported it "may take a couple days" to decide whether the Chiefs need to put Hill on IR or if his injury will only keep him out for a few games.

Hill suffered a posterior dislocation in the first half of Sunday's 40-26 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, per Adam Teicher and Stephania Bell of ESPN.

Hill won't require surgery, but the injury was serious enough that he was taken to Baptist Medical Center. Team trainer Rick Burkholder explained the decision to hospitalize Hill, per Teicher:

"Those can be injured coming out the front, up top or in the back. If it goes posteriorly or back it becomes a medical issue for us so that we worry that there's more problems. His came back posteriorly and he didn't have any medical issues, but we still transported him to Baptist Medical Center and we turned his care over to Brett Frykberg, who is an ortho-trauma physician."

If Hill is placed on injured reserve with a designation to return, he would be forced to miss at least eight weeks, though it would clear a roster spot. Given the nature of the injury, however, it seems possible he would be able to return before then, leaving the Chiefs with an important decision to make.

Missing Hill for any period of time is a major loss, of course. The 25-year-old has emerged as the NFL's most explosive offensive weapon, catching 87 passes for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns last season while adding 22 carries for another 151 yards and a score.

Replacing a player who has that impact is virtually impossible. But Sammy Watkins told Albert Breer of SI.com that, despite Hill being an indispensable part of the offense, the rest of the Chiefs wide receivers will need to step up:

"I think we got the same roles. The same particular roles. Same for me. I think we got the other guys to step up. We got Mecole Hardman in the second round. We got Demarcus Robinson. We got so many guys that can step up and play that position. I'm not really worried. Do we need 10? Do we need Tyreek? Yes, we do. I don't think I would've scored a couple touchdowns without him affecting the defense.

"I think he has an intricate part. We're gonna have to find a way to win in the next six, seven weeks with him being out. I think we have the coaches to do that."

The Chiefs certainly looked capable of maintaining a high level of play without Hill on Sunday. But they'll need major contributions from players like Watkins and Hardman while Hill is out of action.