Chiefs’ offensive line depth now in dire straits as bad streak of injury luck continues following Week 14 loss to Texans
The Kansas City Chiefs are running out of healthy offensive tackles with the latest news on Wanya Morris.
The Kansas City Chiefs can’t seem to get ahead when it comes to offensive line injuries in recent weeks.
On the first play from scrimmage in the Week 14 loss to the Houston Texans, the Chiefs lost LT Wanya Morris to a knee injury. On Monday morning, Chiefs HC Andy Reid didn’t have an update on the injury, but he wasn’t expecting anything good to come from it.
“Really don’t have anything injury-wise to give you yet,” Reid said. “Wanya’s (Morris) did not look good, but we’ll be able to get you that later as we go.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports on Monday afternoon that Morris suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday night vs. the Texans. Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick adds that this is not an ACL injury, but that Morris suffered additional ligament damage when he hyperextended his knee. That could include damage to the PLC, PCL, and LCL, but the extent of the injury is unknown at this time.
Say what you will about Morris’ play, but he was the Chiefs’ most experienced backup offensive tackle with 16 career regular-season games started and 43 played. They’ll miss that veteran presence at the tackle spot, relying on younger, inexperienced players in his place.
The Chiefs are down to just two healthy options at offensive tackle on the 53-man roster
With Josh Simmons on injured reserve after fracturing and dislocating his wrist in Week 13, and Jawaan Taylor dealing with knee and triceps injuries, the Chiefs were already in peril at the offensive tackle position. With Wanya Morris now heading to injured reserve, the Chiefs are left with just two healthy offensive linemen on the 53-man roster: Jaylon Moore and Esa Pole.
Chiefs’ offensive tackles after Week 14 loss to Texans
- Josh Simmons (IR for dislocated/fractured wrist)
- Jawaan Taylor (Knee, triceps injuries)
- Jaylon Moore
- Wanya Morris (knee injury)
- Esa Pole
- Chu Godrick (practice squad)
- Matt Waletzko (practice squad)
- Ethan Driskell (NFI list)
Pole filled in admirably for Morris at the left tackle position in Week 14 and should realistically be the starter moving forward. Chiefs HC Andy Reid suggested that the team won’t hesitate to move Pole and Moore around based on opponent matchups.
“Well, you saw the matchups and all of that, so we always take matchups into mind,” Reid explained of their offensive tackle decisions in Week 14. “But also, where the player is comfortable, too. So that’s what we felt was right. I can’t tell you if that will be the case this week. We’ll see how things go in the game plan part of it. With the exception of the pressure on the fourth-and-1, there were some pretty good things that I thought we did there. 51 (Texans DE Will Anderson Jr.) got us a little bit on that fourth-and-1 to where we wanted to go with the ball. Other than that, I thought they did a respectable job.”
With RG Trey Smith nearing a return from injury, the Chiefs could opt for another offensive tackle on the roster to replace Morris. Chu Godrick would be the logical choice, with Waletzko only first joining the team last week.
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