TAMPA Chuma Edoga Jersey , Fla. (AP)ith linebacker Lavonte David, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and pass rusher Noah Spence among key players nursing injuries following the team’s first loss of the season. David left Sunday’s 34-17 defeat at Minnesota with what initially was believed to be a high left ankle sprain that could have sidelined him for at least a month, however coach Dirk Koetter seemed optimistic Monday that the injury is not as severe as originally feared. ”I think you’re jumping the gun a little bit on Lavonte. It’s not as bad as it looked, No. 1 – and it looked bad,” Koetter said. ”X-rays were negative. We don’t know exactly what it is yet, but knock on wood it’s not as bad as it looked or as was previously reported.” McCoy aggravated a right ankle injury suffered the previous week against Chicago. Spence, a second-year pro who has Tampa Bay’s only sack through two games, dislocated the same shoulder he had a problem with last season. Defensive end Robert Ayers and cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves III and Ryan Smith also missed portions of the loss to the Vikings, which means an already lengthy injury report figures to be even longer Wednesday, when the Bucs begin preparation for this week’s game against the New York Giants. Koetter rarely discusses specifics about injuries, but did say he’s hopeful some players already on the report are close to returning. Three defensive starters – linebacker Kwon Alexander (hamstring), tackle Chris Baker (flu) and cornerback Brent Grimes (shoulder) – were inactive against Minnesota. With Grimes out and Tampa Bay’s front four unable to generate much of a pass rush, Case Keenum filled in for an injured Sam Bradford and threw for a career-best 369 yards and three touchdowns without an interception for Minnesota. ”Every team has injuries and we are no different,” said Koetter, whose team’s entering a stretch in which it’ll play two home games in five days against the Giants and New England Patriots. ”When you have weaknesses in certain positions, it’s our job as coaches to try to cover up those weaknesses (and) try to play to our strengths,” Koetter said. ”Minnesota did a good job of attacking us and we have to lick our wounds http://www.newyorkjetsteamonline.com/trevon-wesco-jersey , learn our lessons and move forward.” — KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are already planning their future around signing quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a long-term contract, even though the NFL MVP won’t be eligible to sign an extension until after next season.Chiefs general manager Bret Veach said during a wide-ranging interview Thursday that some of the financial decisions made dating back to last offseason were done with Mahomes in mind, such as the way the franchise structured contracts and how they approached free agency and the draft.“We were prepared for Pat to have success and be a franchise quarterback,” Veach said, “so this process of structuring ourselves for the next three, four, five years started about a year ago.”In the ensuing 12 months, the Chiefs traded incumbent quarterback Alex Smith to Washington and handed the job to Mahomes, who threw for more than 5,000 yards along with 50 touchdown passes while leading the club to its third straight AFC West title and the conference championship game.The Chiefs lost in overtime to the Patriots, a defeat made even more frustrating by the fact that Kansas City lost the coin flip and Mahomes never had a chance with the ball in the extra session.Off the field, Mahomes has become one of the NFL’s biggest stars.With his moppy Mohawk, earnest attitude and game-changing ability, Mahomes became must-watch TV by the end of the season. He had the eighth-best selling jersey in the NFL, has been courted by a wave of sponsors and has led Las Vegas odds-makers to peg the Chiefs as Super Bowl favorites next season.Some suggest Mahomes could ultimately sign the first $200 million contract in NFL history when he is eligible for an extension after next season.“Even last year, we were putting a plan together,” Veach said. “I think we have a good plan Alexander Mattison Jersey , and everything we do structure-wise will allow for necessary room moving forward.”Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers set the market with a $134 million, four-year extension last offseason, while Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan signed a $150 million, five-year deal. Rodgers has the average highest salary while Ryan had the highest signing guarantee of $94.5 million.Whatever it takes, Veach is intent on making sure the Chiefs have flexibility to do it.“Obviously there’s tremendous talent, and we had seen obviously a chance to see a lot of his work in college, and we saw all last year,” Veach said. “You knew it was inevitable it was coming. But what surprised me was the ease at which he did it. Even great players when they’re young, you anticipate a wall at some point after seven, eight weeks, but there was never really a time.”BASKETBALL CAUTIONVideo of Mahomes making a slick spin move during a pickup basketball game went viral this week, and Veach said he’s already spoken to his quarterback about being careful off the field.“It was obviously a light-hearted discussion,” he said. “The problem with Pat is he does everything 100 mph and so dang competitive. I was like, ‘Hey man, you’re breaking a lot of ankles out there. Don’t break your own.’ And he was like, ‘No, no, we got that.'”STAR SAFETYEric Berry hardly played last season because of a mysterious heel injury http://www.minnesotavikingsteamonline.com/dru-samia-jersey , though he was on the field for the AFC title game. Veach said the highly-paid safety would discuss with doctors and the training staff whether to have surgery this offseason.“There’s so much medical information they are working through,” he said. “They’re going through all the postseason evals and exams and then sit down and put together a plan.”THE LINEBACKERSThe Chiefs are expected to switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and that could cause big personnel decisions. Veteran linebacker Justin Houston has the Chiefs’ biggest salary cap number at $21.1 million next season, while top pass rusher Dee Ford could be a candidate for the franchise tag as he hits free agency.“We are running a different scheme now and we started the process Monday of going through the roster, giving you a pure feel of strengths, weaknesses, where we can get better,” Veach said. “Dee is a player that has done so much for us. We’re excited about bringing him back.”OTHER CONTRACTSDefensive tackle Chris Jones and wide receiver Tyreek Hill are eligible for contract extensions this offseason, and Veach said those discussions could begin at the NFL combine.“We’ll have a lot of dialogue with their agents,” he said. “We want them to be here. I’m sure they want to be here and we want to keep this rolling.”HUNT’S FUTUREVeach danced around the question of whether the Chiefs would ever sign running back Kareem Hunt, whom they cut midway through the season after video surfaced of him kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel. Hunt remains on the commissioner’s exempt list, but other teams have expressed an interest in the former NFL rushing champion.“Our focus and our hopes with Kareem is he’s able to take the steps necessary to get his life in order, and do the right things,” Veach said. “Everything else after that is not as important.”