The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have starting kicker Spencer Shrader for their Black Friday win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Shrader suffered a hamstring injury and couldn’t play, leading the Chiefs to sign Matthew Wright to the practice squad and elevate him to the active roster for last week’s game.
Wright played well in place of Shrader, making 4-of-5 field goals against the Raiders. The Chiefs will need Wright again for this week’s primetime game against the Los Angeles Chargers as Shrader’s 2024 season has ended abruptly.
According to Charles Goldman of AtoZ Sports, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Wednesday that Shrader was placed on injured reserve.
#Chiefs HC Andy Reid says that there are no injuries to talk about. Says that Matthew Wright will kick this week and that Spencer Shrader was placed on injured reserve.
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) December 4, 2024
If you are Reid, this is the last thing you want to hear. The Chiefs are still waiting for Pro Bowl kicker Harrison Butker to return. Butker was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury on Nov. 14. The veteran kicker’s left knee injury reportedly required arthroscopic surgery.
It’s less than ideal to lose two kickers to injury in the same season, but Wright performed well in his Chiefs’ debut against the Raiders. Kansas City needed all those points from Wright as the offense could not capitalize in the red zone against the Raiders.
Kansas City’s offense will try to get back on track against the best-scoring defense in the league (15.2 points per game allowed), but it won’t be easy. Therefore, Wright might be called upon a few times on Sunday night.
