KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs right tackle Jeff Allen had surgery Friday on his right elbow and will likely be out the rest of the season, the latest blow to a team already ravaged by injuries and suspensions.
Allen hurt his elbow after starting Sunday’s season-opening loss to Tennessee. In the same game, Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito ruptured their right Achilles tendons, ending their seasons.
Allen was supposed to be the starting left guard, but he moved to right tackle when Donald Stephenson was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
Ryan Harris is expected to start at right tackle when the Chiefs visit Denver on Sunday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Was last year a smoke-and-mirrors mirage? Did the Kansas City Chiefs go from 2-14 to 11-5 and the playoffs on the strength of dumb luck?
There’s an argument to be made for it after their season-opening loss to Tennessee.
Alex Smith threw three interceptions after receiving a big contract extension. Running ball Jamaal Charles touched the ball 11 times after getting his own new deal. Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was suspended. First-round draft pick Dee Ford got on the field for just three snaps.
Defensive starters Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito were lost to season-ending injuries, too.
Now, the Chiefs will have to pull out of a downward spiral at arguably the toughest place in the AFC: Denver. They visit the Broncos in Week 2 on Sunday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles had seven carries for 19 yards and four catches for 15 yards in a season-opening loss to Tennessee, stunningly low numbers for the All-Pro running back.
His final eight touches? They netted a whopping 11 yards from scrimmage.
Charles said after, “I want to see the ball more and coach knows that,” and coach Andy Reid said Monday that not getting his biggest star the ball was “negligence on my part.”
Especially after the Chiefs gave him a two-year, $18.1 million extension before the season. Reid said the Titans took away much of what the Chiefs were trying to do with Charles, but he also made it clear that No. 25 needs to get the ball more for the team to be successful.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the deal says the Kansas City Chiefs have signed former Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson to a one-year contract.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the team had not announced the move.
Vickerson will likely start right away. The Chiefs lost defensive tackle Mike DeVito to a season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon in Sunday’s loss to Tennessee.
Vickerson has spent the last four years in Denver, making 41 starts and will be returning there for a game with the Chiefs on Sunday. The Chiefs are still looking for a linebacker after losing Derrick Johnson to his own ruptured Achilles tendon.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito will miss the remainder of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season after MRI exams confirmed that both players ruptured their right Achilles tendons in Sunday’s loss to Tennessee.
Johnson went down without getting touched near the end of the first half. Eight plays later, early in the second half, DeVito went down at nearly the same spot on the field.
The blows are significant to a Chiefs team that was already missing several key pieces to injuries and suspensions, and was routed 26-10 by the Titans at Arrowhead Stadium. Johnson had four tackles before getting carted off the field, moving him within 15 of 1,000 for his career. That would surpass Gary Spani for the franchise record.
It was a rough opening game for the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson to a torn Achilles tendon.
Johnson went down late in the first half Sunday with nobody around and needed to be carted off the field. Kansas City lost another defensive starter, Mike DeVito, in the second half to the same injury in a loss to Tennessee.
“We’ve got some guys that need to step up and get ready to play,” Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston said. “Guys go down all the time and you need to step up.”
Houston had a scare when Jadeveon Clowney, the top overall pick in this year’s draft, injured his knee and didn’t return in a win over the Redskins.
Coach Bill O’Brien didn’t provide much more information on Clowney’s health after the game.
“They think it’s a good prognosis, so it looks like it’s going to be OK,” O’Brien said. “He may miss some time, he may not. Who knows? So we’ll know better as the week goes on.”
It wasn’t clear how Clowney was injured, but it happened late in the second quarter. He looked to be arguing with the team doctor as the pair walked off the field to the locker room a couple of minutes before halftime.
The Rams already lost one quarterback for the season when Sam Bradford injured his knee in the third preseason game. Shaun Hill left St. Louis’ loss against Minnesota with a left quadriceps injury. St. Louis also lost defensive end Chris Long to a left ankle injury.
Carolina was without starting quarterback Cam Newton, who fractured his ribs in a preseason game last month. He was declared inactive before the Panthers played Tampa Bay.
Cleveland tight end Jordan Cameron aggravated a shoulder injury after catching two passes for 47 yards against Pittsburgh. Washington tight end Jordan Reed strained his hamstring at Houston.
Other injuries included Steelers’ rookie running back Dri Archer, who left the win over the Browns with left knee and ankle injuries.
Chiefs right tackle Jeff Allen left with a strained biceps. Titans linebacker Zach Brown injured his shoulder.
Bills linebacker Keith Rivers injured his groin in a win at Chicago.
Jacksonville lost safety Johnathan Cyprien and linebacker J.T. Thomas to head injuries at Philadelphia. Miami lost starting linebackers Danell Ellerbee (hip) and Koa Misi (ankle) in the first half in a victory over Miami.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, Alex Smith was intercepted three times and the Tennessee Titans rolled to a 26-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Locker picked apart a Chiefs defense that lost linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles injuries. Locker was 22 of 33 and found eight different players, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster.
Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend.
Smith was 19 of 35 for 202 yards and a touchdown for a Chiefs offense missing suspended wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and right tackle Donald Stephenson.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It’ll be a reunion Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Tennessee Titans are visiting Kansas City in what amounts to a homecoming for wide receiver Dexter McCluster, kicker Ryan Succop and a slew of other former Chiefs players.
In this modern era of free agency, it’s not uncommon for players to face their former teams. A few members of the Chiefs have a history with Tennessee, including wide receiver Donnie Avery.
But when McCluster and Succop are lumped together with safety Bernard Pollard, defensive end Ropati Pitoitua and running back Jackie Battle, well, that’s a whole lot of familiarity.
What makes it even stranger? Succop was waived by the Chiefs just this past weekend.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs signed veteran safety Kurt Coleman on Tuesday and placed linebacker Joe Mays on injured reserve with a designation to return.
Coleman made 29 starts and appeared in 59 games over four seasons in Philadelphia, three of those under current Chiefs coach Andy Reid. He was released by the Vikings during the final round of cuts on Saturday after spending the offseason and training camp with them.
Mays had surgery to repair damage in his wrist that he sustained during a preseason game. The veteran linebacker, who has played in 61 games over the course of six seasons, was being counted on to start alongside Derrick Johnson in the middle of the Chiefs’ defense.
Kansas City opens the regular season Sunday against Tennessee.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith didn’t have much choice when he was traded from San Francisco to Kansas City last year.
He had the final say when it came to staying with the Chiefs, though.
One day after signing a four-year extension that should solidify his future through the 2018 season, Smith expressed relief at being able to focus solely on football — rather than negotiations that had been going on for months, and that were threatening to bleed into the regular season.
Smith said he made it clear to his agent, Tom Condon, he wanted an agreement done before the start of the season. Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said that was also his goal.
The Chiefs open the regular season against Tennessee on Sunday.
