As the Kansas City Chiefs’ players were walking down the hill to their training camp practice field at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph on Sunday morning, the team was announcing the signings of two players.
Both participated in Sunday’s practice: cornerback Anthony Witherstone and tight end Izaiah Gathings. This meant that before the day was out, we would learn that two spots on the team’s 90-man offseason roster had been opened.
After practice concluded, head coach Andy Reid revealed that second-year safety Nazeeh Johnson’s knee injury (which took place during the indoor portion of Saturday’s indoor practice) was an ACL tear — and that rookie linebacker Isaiah Moore was having surgery on his injured knee.
On Sunday afternoon, the NFL transactions report showed that Moore had been waived from the team with an injury designation — and that Johnson had been placed on the Kansas City’s Reserve/Injured list.
That move ends Johnson’s 2023 season. The 6-foot, 189-pound Witherstone was among the 16 undrafted free agents Kansas City signed immediately after the NFL Draft in May.
The corner surrendered a passer rating below 76.0 in each of his last two seasons at Merrimack — but the Chiefs released him on June 15. Gathings is also a 2023 NFL UDFA, but he was originally signed by the New York Jets. A wide receiver at Middle Tennessee State, the 6-foot4, 223-pound Gathings converted to a tight end after collecting 861 yards (and three touchdowns) on 84 receptions over two seasons (and 24 games) for the Blue Raiders.
