De’Anthony Thomas will be suspended Week 1

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas will be suspended for the team’s Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, per an NFL spokesperson. Here is the official statement from the league:

De’Anthony Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs has been suspended without pay for the first game of the 2019 regular season for violating the NFL’s policy and program on substances of abuse.

He will be eligible to return to the Chiefs’ active roster on Monday, Sept. 9, following the team’s Week 1 game at Jacksonville.

Thomas was arrested on suspicion of the possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Allen County, Kansas, back in January. As we covered back on August 21, those charges are now deferred.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said the team was already aware of the league’s impending suspension announcement when Kansas City brought him back.

“We were in contact with De’Anthony and we were still waiting to get back some information from the league and once the summer went along and training camp went along, we actually got that information back,” Veach said. “At the time, the dialogue with the league office was no games or possibly one game. So, that was certainly something we were aware of and then shortly after we signed him, we were aware it was one game. I guess we knew that the last two weeks.”

The Chiefs hope that (starting Week 2) the wide receiver can fill the void left by Marcus Kemp heading to injured reserve (torn ACL).

”When Kemp went down, obviously there was a hole there,” Chiefs special teams Dave Toub explained of Thomas upon his return to the team. “[Thomas] kind of fills that hole for us. Plays a lot of the same positions. A different type [of] guy — he’s more of a speed guy, he’s not as physical — but he brings a lot to the table for us. It’s good to see that he’s healthy. He looks good out there right now.”