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Chiefs will have almost full set of skill players available for Steelers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The practice week began ominously for the NFL’s highest-scoring team. The Kansas City Chiefs were looking at the possibility of playing on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arrowhead Stadium without four of their five top pass-catchers, including tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, because of injuries.

Time has healed all of their wounds except one, though. The Chiefs will have Kelce, Hill and Albert Wilson against the Steelers "unless there’s some setback that takes place here," coach Andy Reid said.

A fourth player, starting wide receiver Chris Conley, is out for the season after rupturing an Achilles tendon in the Chiefs' victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The Chiefs are also expecting to have linebacker Justin Houston available. Houston missed the first two practice sessions of the week because of a calf injury but returned to work on Friday.

“The training room staff did a great job of getting guys back,’’ said Wilson, who has been the Chiefs’ third wide receiver in their first five games. He is tied for third on the team with 16 catches. “It seemed like there was going to be a hiccup there.’’

Kelce left Sunday night's game in Houston at halftime because of a concussion. He entered the NFL’s concussion protocol and didn’t practice on Wednesday.

But he was a full practice participant the next day, and Reid said after Friday’s workout that Kelce had cleared the concussion protocol and would play on Sunday.

Wilson left the game in Houston because of a knee injury and has been listed on the injury report all week. Hill turned up on the injury report on Thursday because of a hamstring injury.

The Chiefs lead the NFL in scoring and lean on Kelce, Hill and Wilson heavily. They’ve combined for 70 catches, 867 yards and five touchdowns in the first five games.

Wilson stands to inherit Conley’s starting job. Conley’s absence should also mean more work for the other wide receivers: Demarcus Robinson, De’Anthony Thomas and perhaps even rookie Jehu Chesson.

“We’ve done a great job of doing our job and focusing on our job,’’ Wilson said. “Of course, we’re getting a little more on our [workload] ... but we’ve been doing a great job of rotating guys, so I feel like we’re not going to lose a step.

“We’ve been doing this rotation since [offseason practice] started. I feel like nothing is going to change.’’

But the Chiefs are likely to miss Conley. He’s only fifth on the team with 11 catches, but eight have given the Chiefs a first down. He also leads Kansas City in yards per catch at 15.9.

“When you’ve got somebody you can count on to do everything right, it’s kind of hard to replace that,’’ Wilson said. “Chris was a great receiver.

“Coach Reid does a great job of game-planning and a great job with what he has. I have no doubt to what we’re going to do on Sunday.’’