The NFL Future Of Chiefs Receiver Justyn Ross Is Now Very Much In Doubt

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross was placed on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list Friday.

“We’ll just let it play out,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said.

Although Reid said it remains unknown how long he’ll be out or if he can return this season, that time away could prove insurmountable for the raw — but talented — 23-year-old player who definitely needs the reps.

The 6-4, 203 pounder was a star at the highest stage at Clemson, but spine surgery while at Clemson and then repeated foot injuries — the latest landing him on the Chiefs’ injured reserve last summer — meant that it had been 638 days between live action, according to Jesse Newell of The Kansas City Star, prior to this season.

After excelling in the preseason, Ross has played in all seven games, recording three catches for 34 yards but has struggled with dropped passes.

“It’s just a matter of experience,” Reid said. “And there’s one way of getting that, and that’s getting tossed in there.”

Ross will not be able to gain that experience while on the exempt list as he’s not allowed to practice or play with the team.

That’s why one wonders whether the time away from the game — on top of what the former Clemson star already has missed — may prove too much.

Despite his college pedigree, the 2022 undrafted free agent already was a long shot.

Prior to the 2023 NFL season, he last played a football game when he was a redshirt junior at Clemson.

While with the Tigers, he showed enormous potential, recording 46 receptions for 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns as a freshman during Clemson’s national championship season.

“The talent’s through the roof,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said before the regular season. “Anybody can see that, and I think he’s gotten better and better.”

He last practiced with Mahomes and the Chiefs on Wednesday and Thursday before he was placed on the exempt list. The NFL did that after Ross was arrested Monday on charges of domestic battery and criminal damage to property of less than $1,000.

The items in the property damage charge included a laptop, a computer monitor, an iPhone, a gold bracelet and a car key. He originally had been charged with damages exceeding $1,000, but the charge was amended to a misdemeanor with values less than $1,000.

Ross pled not guilty to both misdemeanor charges during his arraignment hearing on Tuesday, and his bond was set at $2,500.

The Chiefs took a flyer on Ross requiring minimal financial investment. In the second year of his three-year, $2.6 million contract, he was earning $750,000 this season.

So considering his lack of refinement, dropped passes, injury history — plus the obvious character issues raised by this recent arrest — the Chiefs may not see him as part of their future.

In Ross’ immediate future, he is due again in court on Dec. 4.

Reid lamented the turn of events for his young receiver who overcame so many injuries.

“He has worked hard to get himself back,” he said.