For those Denver Broncos fans hope Kansas City Chiefs Running back Kareem Hunt’s injury concerns could persist into Week 10, Thursday’s practice report was a reality check. Dealing with a quadriceps injury, the Chiefs’ No. 1 running back went from limited in practice to a full participant on Thursday.

However, the Chiefs still have two players who have shown no progress in practice reports; JuJu Smith-Schuster and defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton. Neither practiced this week.

Smith-Schuster is dealing with a hamstring and has missed each of the last two games. In six games this season (three starts), he has totaled nine receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s unusually average passing offense.

Friday will be key in determining whether Smith-Schuster or Wharton tends to play against the Broncos. But it doesn’t look good either.

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Meanwhile, Chiefs speed demon Mecole Hardman remained a limited participant in practice, nursing a shoulder and knee injury. He had nine receptions for 75 yards this season.

Hunt leads the Chiefs with 414 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns this season, adding seven receptions for 51 yards. He definitely has a tendency to go all out, so the Broncos better buckle up.

As for the Broncos, defensive lineman Zach Allen returned to full practice after getting a veteran’s day off Wednesday. Starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey (knee) was also at full strength Thursday.

In an encouraging turn of events, former starting center Luke Wattenberg, who was on injured reserve, went from limited on Wednesday to a full game on Thursday. The Broncos have started the clock bringing it back.

Rush linebacker Drew Sanders who started practicing again this week after months on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, was unable to progress beyond limited participation. It might be a week or two before the Broncos put him back on the roster.

The Broncos and Chiefs kick off Sunday at 11 a.m. MDT at Arrowhead Stadium. We’ll forward Friday’s final injury report for more clarity on these injured leaders we’ve been monitoring all week.

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