Getty Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during the 2022 preseason.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both enter their Week 4 clash coming off their first defeat of the 2022 season.
That means barring a tie on Sunday Night Football, one of the two Super Bowl contenders will suffer their second-straight loss during this early stretch of the year. Games like this are never easy — with both teams motivated and prepared — and key injuries can sometimes tip the scales during these hard-to-predict matchups.
Having said that, let’s get straight to the final injury report for the Super Bowl LV encore.
Harrison Butker, MVS Headline Chiefs Week 4 Injury Report
Each team has one confirmed absence here on Friday evening but the bigger storylines lie in the questionable tags. For the Chiefs, kicker Harrison Butker (ankle) might be the most important name to watch on Sunday as head coach Andy Reid has labeled him a “game-time decision.”
After Kansas City’s special teams errors directly impacted the result in Indianapolis, Butker’s return could end up being critical in Tampa Bay. Matt Ammendola has been released but newcomer Matthew Wright offers just as little confidence in the clutch.
Starting wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling joins Butker with a questionable designation in Week 4 due to an abdomen injury. “MVS” was back at practice on September 30 with a limited effort after missing the day before.
Of course, the wideout’s absence may pique the interest of fans for multiple reasons. If Valdes-Scantling were to miss Sunday’s game, the Chiefs would be forced to bump Justin Watson and Skyy Moore up into larger roles — which is a move that some analysts have been calling for anyway.
Pass rusher Joshua Kaindoh is also questionable with an illness — although he might be inactive anyway — and defensive lineman Mike Danna will miss his second-straight outing with a calf injury.
Mecole Hardman (heel) was also limited in practice, but has no injury tag, and running back Ronald Jones returned from an illness. We’ll see if Coach Reid decides to tap into the veteran ball carrier for the first time against his former team.
Bucs Without Akiem Hicks, Several WRs in Doubt
Tampa Bay will match KC with a missing D-lineman of their own, veteran Akiem Hicks, who is dealing with a foot injury.
The big Buccaneers question mark will be at the wide receiver position though, as has been the case all season for Tom Brady and this offense. Mike Evans does return from a one-game suspension but the status of several other weapons is up in the air for Week 4.
Chris Godwin is the headliner here. The premier pass-catcher has not played since Week 1 after a hamstring ailment. He’s also coming off a torn ACL in 2021.
Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney voiced that “the fact that [Godwin] was limited on Friday after missing Thursday may be a sign that he could indeed play on Sunday night.” While fellow WRs and questionable tags Russell Gage (hamstring) and Julio Jones (knee) both missed practice on Friday.
A fourth wideout is also doubtful for the primetime affair, fill-in Breshad Perriman, who is listed with a knee and hamstring injury.
Finally, starting left tackle Donovan Smith is questionable with an elbow injury after missing the past two games. He has been limited in practice all week and has a decent shot at suiting up in Week 4.