KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs expect to have wide receiver Kadarius Toney and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed available when they play the Detroit Lions on Thursday night to kick off the NFL’s regular season.

Toney missed almost all of training camp after tearing the meniscus in his knee during a special teams drill on July 23. He had surgery two days later and did not return to practice until last week, though offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and special teams coach Dave Toub both said the speedy wide receiver had looked good since returning the field.

Sneed, who is expected to start alongside Trent McDuffie at cornerback, dealt with swelling in his knee late last season, and it flared up again over the summer. He wound up missing 12 practices during training camp along with all three preseason games.

“We’ll take it day by day,” Chiefs Coach Andy Reid said, “but right now I’d tell you they’re good to go.”

Both of them are important players for Kansas City.

The Chiefs paid a steep price to get the injury-prone Toney from the New York Giants, sending third- and sixth-round picks midway through last season. And he proved to be dynamic in Reid’s creative offense, both running and catching the ball, but he continued to be slowed by a hamstring injury, missing three games in November and December.

Toney was available throughout the postseason, though, catching five passes in the divisional round against Jacksonville and scoring a touchdown on a short throw in the Super Bowl to help Kansas City win its second title in four years.

“I think he’s looked really good coming back here. He looks like he’s in shape and he stayed locked in with the playbook,” Nagy said before Monday’s practice.

“We’ll just kind of let the flow of the game dictate, you know, how we use him and what we do with him. When you have seven guys, it enables you to do different things. He’s certainly going to be part of that.”

PANTHERS: Outside linebacker Brian Burns sat out his second consecutive practice Monday because of a contract dispute, raising questions about whether the two-time Pro Bowler will play in Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

Burns also missed practice last Thursday, although the team would only say at the time it was for “personal reasons.”

But after the Panthers returned to practice on Monday following a long weekend, Burns again sat out a walkthrough practice and Coach Frank Reich ultimately indicated it is because of his contract situation.

Burns is set to make $16 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal, but is seeking a big contract extension. Burns has 38 sacks in his first four seasons with the Panthers. Only Julius Peppers has had more sacks for the team in his first four seasons.

“I’m not involved in the contract negotiations at all,” Reich said. “I’m just worried about getting my team ready to play Atlanta. Do I hope he is there? Absolutely I hope he is there. If he’s not there, I’m not worried about it. Just move forward.”

Despite sitting out practices, Burns continues to attend team meetings at Bank of America Stadium.

He briefly walked through the locker room on Monday, but refused to answer questions from reporters.

BROWNS: Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward remained in concussion protocol and missed practice, putting his availability for Sunday’s season opener against quarterback Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in question.

Ward has been sidelined since suffering a head injury – the fourth reported concussion of his NFL career – in Cleveland’s exhibition game at Kansas City on Aug. 25.