Chiefs’ Andy Reid expected bad news after Jaylen Watson’s ankle injury. He was right

Andy Reid feared the worst about Jaylen Watson’s ankle injury suffered during Sunday’s victory at the San Francisco 49ers, and those concerns proved true.

Watson suffered an ankle fracture, according to NFL.com, and his return this season is uncertain.

“We’ll see what the MRI says, but I don’t think that’s going to be great news,” Reid said after the Chiefs defeated the 49ers 28-18.

Watson, in his third year, was off to the best start of his career. With the secondary shuffled after the departure of L’Jarius Sneed, Trent McDuffie became the top cornerback and Watson moved into the No. 2 role.

During the preseason, Watson was locked in a battle for that position with Joshua Williams and Nazeeh Johnson, players from the same 2022 draft class. Watson won the competition and blossomed.

“McDuffie gets a lot of the credit, but he’s playing like an All-Pro,” Reid said after the Chiefs defeated the New Orleans Saints in Week 5. “We just kind of take that for granted, but this Watson kid man, he’s playing his heart out and doing a great job for us at the other corner spot.”

Johnson figures to step into Watson’s role, and the Chiefs got big plays from young players in the secondary on Sunday: career-first interceptions from safety Jaden Hicks and cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace.