Chiefs’ Khalen Saunders could miss up to a month with injury. Here’s what it means
The Chiefs’ interior defensive line could be down a key contributor for the short-term future.
Defensive tackle Khalen Saunders is expected to miss at least a month because of an elbow injury but it won’t require surgery, the NFL Network reported.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid, though, didn’t commit to the reported timeline.
“We just got to see with him,” Reid said Wednesday morning. “We try not to put time limits on him — on any of the guys. We certainly don’t talk about them.
“But we’ll just see how he progresses here. He’s actually feeling pretty good today, but we’ll see how that goes.”
Saunders, who is part of the interior rotation, played just eight snaps before dislocating the elbow in the season-opening win against the Houston Texans. His potential absence sets up a blow to a defense already without defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who has one more game to serve on his two-game suspension.
With the reported timeline, Saunders projects to miss games against the Los Angeles Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and maybe the Las Vegas Raiders.
If the Chiefs choose, they can place on Saunders on injured reserve for three weeks before he can return to practice. One he practices, the Chiefs would have a 21-day window to activate him. This new rule was put in place for the 2020 season given the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile should Saunders miss time, the Chiefs are likely to lean on rookie Tershawn Wharton to see more action with defensive tackles Chris Jones and Derrick Nnadi. Wharton finished last week’s game with 14 defensive snaps.
Defensive ends Tanoh Kpassagnon and Demone Harris, who was inactive in Week 1, also provide flexibility to play inside, depending on defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s subpackages.
The Chiefs protected defensive tackle Braxton Hoyett on the practice squad, so he’s a candidate to be activated to the 53-player roster if deemed necessary for depth purposes.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
