Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The Kansas City Chiefs ruled out defensive end Mike Danna for their Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they dished out their original injury designations for the game on Friday, September 30. On Saturday, the team ruled out another player, this time a starter with a very important role.
Kansas City ruled out kicker Harrison Butker for their Week 4 matchup against the Buccaneers, according to the team on October 1. This marks the third-straight game Butker will miss due to an ankle injury he suffered in the Chiefs’ Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
We have ruled out K Harrison Butker for Sunday’s game.
We activated Practice Squad players LB Elijah Lee and K Matthew Wright via Standard Elevation.
Chiefs Utilizing Practice Squad to Fullest Potential
Along with the Butker ruling, the Chiefs also elevated linebacker Elijah Lee and kicker Matthew Wright from the practice squad to the active roster. That makes Lee and Wright eligible to play on Sunday Night Football.
Kansas City signed Lee, 26, to a one-year deal on March 22. As a six-year NFL veteran, Lee was expected to compete for defensive reps behind second-year linebacker Nick Bolton and third-year linebacker Willie Gay. However, the play of rookie third-round pick Leo Chenal and Darius Harris, who is filling in for Gay during his four-game suspension, pushed Lee down the depth chart. That’s why the Chiefs cut ties with him at the end of the preseason and then signed him to their practice squad at the beginning of the regular season.
The Chiefs did promote Lee to the 53-player roster on September 10. Yet, outside of 8 defensive snaps in Week 1, Lee has not earned a snap (outside of special teams) over the last two games, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Chiefs released Lee on September 27. However, they re-signed him to the practice squad the following day.
On the same day the defending AFC West champions released Lee, they also signed free agent kicker Matthew Wright to the practice squad.
In the wake of Butker injuring his ankle in Kansas City’s regular season opener, the Chiefs signed kicker Matt Ammendola as Butker’s replacement. In the Chiefs’ Week 2 win against the Los Angeles Chargers, Ammendola was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and also made his lone point-after attempt. However, in Kansas City’s Week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, he was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts and missed his lone point-after attempt.
The Chiefs released Ammendola on Monday, September 26.
Wright entered the league undrafted out of Central Florida in 2020. He originally caught on with the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad and was active for three games during the 2020 season, according to Pro Football Reference. In those games, he made 4-of-4 field goal attempts and 7-of-7 point-after attempts.
In 2021, Wright joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, and was active for 13 games, making 21-of-24 field goal attempts and 13-of-15 point-after attempts.
Wright, 26, will get his first crack at making a positive impact for Kansas City during primetime football on Sunday. Hopefully, Butker’s recovery timeline will have him back in the lineup after that.
Twitter Talking About Chiefs-Bucs Game
Leading up to the Super Bowl LV rematch, Twitter users were chatting about the highly-anticipated Chiefs-Bucs game.
“Opposing running backs have averaged 11.3 targets per game against the Chiefs this season Leonard Fournette never comes off the field and the Bucs play the Chiefs this weekend…” Adam Koffler of RotoBaller wrote.
Opposing running backs have averaged 11.3 targets per game against the Chiefs this season
Leonard Fournette never comes off the field and the Bucs play the Chiefs this weekend…
“Please Kansas City. PLEASE beat the brakes off of the Bucs,” another Twitter user wrote. “Probably won’t happen bc there are multiple forces we have to play against, but it sure would be nice.”
Please Kansas City. PLEASE beat the brakes off of the Bucs. Probably won’t happen bc there are multiple forces we have to play against, but it sure would be nice.
“Going to need the Chiefs to absolutely destroy and curb stomp the Bucs this weekend for my mental health,” another user wrote.
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Chiefs Rule Out Key Starter vs. Bucs, Promote LB & Specialist