The former Wales rugby star has been impressing with his attempts to make it in NFL with Kansas City Chiefs, but injury could now destroy his hopes of making their roster for the new season

Louis Rees-Zammit’s hopes of making it in NFL have been dealt a blow.

The former Wales rugby star has been missing from training with the Kansas City Chiefs due to a back injury, and his place in this weekend’s pre-season match against Detroit Lions is now in doubt

It’s a potentially huge blow for Rees-Zammit in his bid to make the Chiefs’ 53-man roster, with every minute and every snap vital if he is to prove he deserves a spot on the team this season. The Chiefs only have one more pre-season match after Sunday, with a game against Chicago Bears on Friday offering a final audition opportunity.

The squad will be announced after that, ahead of the NFL season opener against Baltimore Ravens on September 6.

Chiefs special teams co-ordinator Dave Toub revealed the news as he told reporters his players needed to work on their kick returns in light of new rules and mistakes in their opening pre-season game against Jacksonville Jaguars. This is one of the key roles Rees-Zammit is expected to take on.

“We just need to get more reps out there and make sure that it’s clear what the rules are; obviously, we made a mistake in the game,” said Toub. “It ended up costing us, but it’s a great learning experience for us.

“[It will be the] same guys that you saw. So I still want to see other guys. I want to see Rees (Louis Rees-Zammit), but he didn’t practice today. He might not be available. We’ll see, but I still want to see… there’s a lot of guys I want to see. We got time to do that.”

Rees-Zammit was seen on the sidelines at training, stretching his upper body with coaches but not wearing pads or a helmet. It was later confirmed he has suffered a back injury.

The Welshman had enjoyed a solid debut against the Jaguars last weekend, operating in a number of different roles on Special Teams and receiving praise from some experts.