It won't be long now for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, as they've both completed their final practice sessions ahead of the AFC divisional round.

Thursday's practice brought some bad news for the Texans, who saw RB Joe Mixon sit out of the final practice of the week due to injury. Mixon first appeared on the injury report with an ankle injury on Wednesday after practicing in full on Tuesday to start the week. Texans media members strongly believe Mixon will still play on Saturday, but this at least raises some questions about his potential availability. Even if he does play in the game, there's certainly reason to believe he won't be 100% healthy. 

Kansas City's injury report remained the same, with no new injuries reported on Thursday. Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed to reporters that they're leaning toward activating CB Jaylen Watson (ankle) and not yet WR Mecole Hardman (knee). Both players are currently on injured reserve, and the team has one free space available on the 53-man roster.

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid on Jaylen Watson: "He's worked tremendously hard to get himself to this point. We'll just see how that goes as far as the game reps, but he sure has worked hard to get himself even to this point right here."

— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) January 16, 2025

Let's examine the Chiefs' and Texans' final injury reports of the week, complete with game status designations for the divisional round of the playoffs. . .

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Final Chiefs injury report

Player	Injury	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Game Status
WR Mecole Hardman (IR)	Knee	LP	LP	LP	Doubtful
CB Jaylen Watson (IR)	Ankle	FP	FP	FP	Questionable
DT Chris Jones	Knee	FP	FP	FP	—
RT Jawaan Taylor	Knee	FP	FP	FP	—
RB Isiah Pacheco	Ribs	FP	FP	FP	—
QB Patrick Mahomes	Ankle	FP	FP	FP	—
CB Trent McDuffie	Knee	FP	FP	FP	—
LT D.J. Humphries	Hamstring	FP	FP	FP	—
DB Chamarri Conner	Shoulder	FP	FP	FP	—
WR Nikko Remigio	Wrist	FP	FP	FP	—
FB Carson Steele	Hip	FP	FP	FP	—

KEY: DNP = Did not participate | LP = Limited participation | FP = Full participation | NIR = Not injury related

Observations:

• Mecole Hardman is the lone Chiefs player to carry a doubtful game status designation for the AFC divisional round.
• Jaylen Watson was given a questionable game status designation despite practicing full-time all week long. The team has until tomorrow afternoon to activate him from injured reserve.

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Final Texans injury report

Player	Injury	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Game Status
LB Azeez Al-Shaair	Knee	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
OL Shaq Mason	Knee	DNP	LP	FP	—
OL Juice Scruggs	Ankle	DNP	LP	FP	—
WR Robert Woods	Hip	DNP	DNP	LP	Questionable
DL Denico Autry	Knee	LP	LP	FP	—
TE Dalton Schultz	Shoulder	LP	LP	FP	—
WR Nico Collins	Rest	LP	—	—	—
DL Will Anderson Jr.	Hand/Elbow	FP	FP	FP	—
OL Nick Broeker	Hand	FP	FP	FP	—
TE Teagan Quitoriano (IR)	Calf	FP	FP	FP	Questionable
RB Joe Mixon	Ankle	—	LP	DNP	Questionable

KEY: DNP = Did not participate | LP = Limited participation | FP = Full participation | NIR = Not injury related

Observations:

• A trio of key Texans are listed as questionable for the divisional round, including Joe Mixon, who sat out of practice on Thursday after an injury in practice on Wednesday.

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