KC Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker will return against Browns. What about DJ Humphries?
Harrison Butker will return to kicking duties for the Chiefs on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, but left tackle D.J. Humphries has been ruled out.
Butker has missed the previous four games after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his left (non-kicking) knee. He had been placed on injured reserve.
Humphries, signed as a free agent last month, played his first game with the Chiefs last Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. He suffered a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t finish the game.
Wanya Morris, who started the previous 10 games at left tackle, likely will get the start. But the Chiefs moved guard Joe Thuney to tackle after benching Morris in an earlier game.
In the four games Butker missed, the Chiefs employed two kickers with excellent results. Spencer Shrader kicked for the Chiefs in the loss to the Buffalo Bills and the next week at the Carolina Panthers, where he booted a game-winning field on the final snap.
But Shrader suffered a hamstring injury in a workout the next day, and the Chiefs signed Matthew Wright.
Wright kicked four field goals in each of the victories over the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers, games that ended with identical 19-17 scores.
Against the Chargers, Wright hit a final-play game winner when his 31-yarder doinked in off the left upright. He won the AFC’s weekly award for special teams play.
In the four games, Shrader and Wright combined to make 11 of 12 field goals — the only miss was Wright’s 59-yarder just before halftime against the Raiders — and all eight extra point attempts.
Butker, who is the NFL leader in career field-goal accuracy at 89.21%, has made 18 of 20 field goals and 21 of 22 extra points this season with 78% of his kickoffs going for touchbacks.
Butker also has a final-play field goal this season, in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs are the only team in NFL history to have three players kick walk-off field goals in the same season.
Humphries played his first eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. His 2023 season ended when he suffered a torn ACL in a Week 17 game.
This story was originally published December 14, 2024 at 11:17 AM.