The Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills will play on Sunday in Arrowhead Stadium. For the Chiefs, their rookie class comes in heralded and we expect contributions from almost all of them. That may include rookie guard Jon Asamoah.
Nick Wright of 610 Sports reported on Thursday night that Lilja has a broken thumb but is expected to play on Sunday despite not practicing in full on Wednesday or Thursday. If Lilja can't go, or if the broken thumb is bothering him, it would be Asamoah stepping into his place. He hasn't played a whole lot this season coming in as an extra blocker at times.
"You always have to be prepared,"
Asamoah tells the Kansas City Star. "You can’t be out there not knowing what you need to do. I’m ready for anything, just like every week I come in with the same mind-set."
If it is Asamoah, he would join the following rookies that have quickly made an impact for KC during the regular season: Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster, Javier Arenas, Tony Moeaki and Kendrick Lewis. That's not a bad rookie class.
It would also be a good sign for the future if the Chiefs feel comfortable playing him. Of course, Lilja is expected to play so we likely won't find out if they would start him but it'd be interesting to get a glimpse of him because with Brian Waters and Lilja holding down the guard spots, he may not get a shot at playing regularly until after 2011.