Dexter McCluster was at the height of his powers last Sunday, setting a Kansas City Chiefs record with 177 punt-return yards -- including a 74-yard touchdown -- in a blowout win over the Washington Redskins.
Five days later, McCluster is battling an ankle infection that has left him questionable for Sunday's matchup against the Oakland Raiders. McCluster suffered a small cut on his ankle during the Washington win, and complained of swelling in the area after Wednesday's practice. He was held out of practice the next two days.
An MRI and scan ruled out structural damage. McCluster underwent a minor procedure to open and clean the wound before he was placed on IV antibiotics.
"I know the big question is does he have MRSA and we don't know that yet because we don't have all of the cultures back so that's where we're at with Dexter," said Chiefs head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder. "If anything needs to be updated over the weekend we'll do that."
MRSA is a type of staph infection that's become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections. Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Carl Nicks and kicker Lawrence Tynes both came down with the infection this summer, leading to the Bucs and a handful of teams reportedly disinfecting their locker rooms.
The Chiefs are holding their breath that they aren't dealing with a similar situation in their facility.
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