The Kansas City Chiefs will be without one starter in the trenches against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, and may be without two more.
The Chiefs have ruled out left tackle D.J. Humphries from the Christmas Day game in Pittsburgh, the team announced on Tuesday. Humphries did not practice this week and has been dealing with a hamstring injury.
Humphries started the Chiefs’s Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers at left tackle, but has been dealing with a hamstring injury the last two weeks. That caused the team to move left guard Joe Thuney out to tackle, where the nine-year vet had played just 81 snaps before the start of this season.
Mike Caliendo, a second-year former undrafted free agent, replaced Thuney at guard, and that is the expected alignment this week against the Steelers this week with Humphries ruled out.
On the right side of the offensive line, starter Jawaan Taylor is questionable to play with a knee injury. Taylor was injured last week against the Houston Texans and was limited in practice on Monday and Tuesday.
If Taylor cannot start, Wanya Morris would be in line to play right tackle. Morris, a 2023 third-round pick, had been the Chiefs’ starting left tackle for most of the early part of the season before he was benched in favor of Humphries, and Morris had been playing so poorly, that even when Humphries was hurt, the Chiefs decided to move their longtime All-Pro guard to tackle instead of putting Morris back into the lineup.
“There’s no better time to learn than when you get your ass beat,” Morris said to the Kansas City Star in November. “It sucks to get your ass beat, but you can have two responses: You can lay down or you can get back up and try something new. I’m going to try something new.”
That something new was apparently right tackle, where he played in place of Taylor after he was injured against Houston.
On defense, All-Pro lineman Chris Jones injured his calf against the Texans and is questionable to play in Pittsburgh. Jones did not practice on Monday but was limited on Tuesday before earning his questionable designation.
A combination of Mike Pennel, Derrick Nnadi, Charles Omenihu and Felix Anudike-Uzomah would likely replace the versatile Jones if he is unable to suit up. Jones lines up all over the Kansas City defensive line, from the edge to nose tackle, and is one of the best defensive lineman in the league.
Additionally, starting Nickel cornerback Chamarri Conner has also been ruled out with a concussion. Undrafted rookie Chris Roland-Wallace has seen increased reps with Conner out and made his first career start last week.
