For a team blessed enough to be the only unbeaten team remaining in the National Football League, it’s odd how cursed the franchise seems when it comes to injuries–especially on the offensive side of the ball.
On Friday, the Chiefs learned that tight end Jared Wiley would be lost for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in practice, shutting down the rookie campaign for the promising young pass catcher.
To accommodate the injury and make the necessary changes to the roster, the Chiefs quickly placed Wiley on the franchise’s injured reserve list and signed Anthony Firkser to the practice squad. The team also recalled Peyton Hendershot from the practice squad to take Wiley’s spot as TE3.
The Chiefs have lost multiple players at tight end heading into Week 9.
Wiley was the Chiefs’ fourth-round pick (the first of two, along with safety Jaden Hicks) in the 2024 NFL Draft. While he’d played in all seven games so far, he only had one target on offense so far before suffering the injury. The impressive pass-catching prospect out of TCU will now have to hope for a breakout campaign in 2025.
As for the tight end position for the Chiefs, it’s undergone some significant changes with the season-ending injury to Jody Fortson as well. The Chiefs signed Fortson several weeks ago but only had him on the field for three games before losing him to a leg injury against the Raiders in Week 8.
The loss of Wiley and Fortson means the Chiefs will likely stay with three tight ends from now and lean away a bit from the bigger personnel packages that they could include due to the talent acquired at the position.
Hendershot, who was acquired via trade from the Dallas Cowboys in a minor preseason deal, is a nice player to have on hand, but he’s a younger Blake Bell whose primary value will come as a blocking asset.
As for the other official injury designations going into Monday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9, the Chiefs have designated defensive end Mike Danna, defensive back Nazeeh Johnson, and wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster “out” as well.
