The Kansas City Chiefs released their injury report after practice on Thursday. The biggest name on the report is linebacker Nick Bolton and the status of the injury he suffered last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. During his weekly media availability, Head Coach Andy Reid took to the podium on Wednesday and updated reporters on a handful of players, starting with Bolton, who underwent surgery on Tuesday.
“As far as the injuries go, it’s Nick Bolton,” said Reid. “He had surgery [Tuesday] in Los Angeles. He’ll be back here [Wednesday].”
Bolton left the Chiefs’ Week 7 matchup early last Sunday after suffering a dislocated wrist – he did not return to the game. Following Kansas City’s 31-17 victory over the Chargers, the Chiefs were told Bolton is expected to miss approximately two months on the 2023 campaign. Reid also hinted that his star linebacker will likely be heading to the team’s injured reserve list.
“[General Manager Brett] Veach is going through all of that now,” Reid explained. “So I’ll get you that information when he finalizes it. We’ll just see how it goes. The one positive is he didn’t have to have any metal put in there, so that was a positive going forward. We just have to check to see how things go here, but Veach is on top of that.”
So far, the Chiefs have not placed Bolton on IR, but the expectation is he’ll be moved off the active roster sometime this week. Without their star linebacker, the Chiefs will rely on Drue Tranquill, who did an excellent job for Kansas City when Bolton was out due to an ankle injury for three games earlier this season.
“I want to say it was three total [games] without Nick [Bolton] Drue (Tranquill) has been in there, and the guys have felt Drue in front of the huddle all week long, obviously,” defensive coordinator Steve Spaguolo said to reporters on Thursday. “I think there’s a comfort level with the other 10 [players] with Drue in there now having done it. I think they felt that way when Nick went down the first time. It’s nice to know we have a guy that can fit in there and not skip a beat,” he explained. “I said this before: I never felt like we had to cut things back when Drue took over in those three games. Nick was gone, and I feel the same way now, so hopefully, we can keep tracking upward.”
Tranquill entered the second half of last week’s game against his former team and finished with two tackles and a sack. This season, he’s registered 36 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four QB hits, and one forced fumble.
