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The Kansas City Chiefs no longer have an emergency kicker in town. The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed kicker Matthew Wright from Kansas City’s practice squad to their active roster, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on November 9.
After Harrison Butker injured his ankle in Kansas City’s regular season opener, the Chiefs signed kicker Matt Ammendola as Butker’s replacement for the following two games. 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. The following day, the defending AFC West champions signed Wright, 26.
Wright Had Successful Stint in KC
Wright entered the league undrafted out of Central Florida in 2020. He originally caught on with the Steelers practice squad and was active for three games during the 2020 season, according to Pro Football Reference. In 2021, he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, and was active for 13 games, making 21-of-24 field goal attempts and 13-of-15 point-after attempts.
In Weeks 4 and 5 of this season, Wright made 8-of-8 field goal attempts and 3-of-4 point-after attempts for the Chiefs, which included setting the franchise record for longest field goal made (59 yards). Unfortunately for Wright, his record was short-lived, as Butker returned to the lineup in Week 6 and made a 62-yard field goal against the Buffalo Bills.
Wright was sent to the practice squad in Week 6 and had been there until he was signed by the Steelers.
Now that Wright is no longer with the Chiefs, look for the team to work out several kickers and potentially sign another one to the practice squad in the near future so they have an emergency option in case Butker is injured again.
Big Red Talks Jaguars Matchup
In Week 10, the Chiefs will play host to the 3-6 Jaguars, who are coached by Doug Pederson, the offensive coordinator for Kansas City during Andy Reid’s first three years with the team (2013-15).
Reid spoke to the media about facing Pederson’s Jaguars for the first time since he became Jacksonville’s head coach this offseason.
“Well yeah, they (Jacksonville Jaguars) look organized, and they have good energy,” Reid explained on November 7. “There’s a certain – when you watch enough tape there’s a certain trust that you can see through the players to the coaches indirectly, but you see that. What’s being called, how fast they play, their body language, all that.
“I think both sides of the ball there’s a tremendous amount of trust, special teams there’s trust. And this is just year one, so they don’t give up. I mean you saw that yesterday; they’re going to keep coming. They were down what 17 at one point or 10 at one point and they came back and won the game, so they’ve got some grit to them.”
The Chiefs-Jaguars game will take place on Sunday, November 13 at 12 p.m. Central Time. The game will be available to watch on CBS or on Paramount Plus.
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