Dontari Poe has high ankle sprain

When the Kansas City Chiefs really decide to ruin everyone’s football season, they go full force. On Wednesday, head coach Andy Reid announced that inside linebacker Josh Mauga will not practice, and that nose tackle Dontari Poe has a high ankle sprain. Reid gave no timetable for his return.

Poe has been dealing with injuries all year. In July, Poe had to undergo back surgery to deal with a disc in his back. Most people believed that Poe would be out a minimum of a month, but the big man never missed a game. Say what you want about this group (and I will for the next two months) but Poe’s toughness can’t be questioned.

After coming back in short order from his back ailment, Poe has been splitting time to an extent with Mike DeVito and Jaye Howard, who might be the Chiefs’ best defensive lineman. Poe has not been himself this season, amassing only 13 tackles and is still looking for his first sack.

Assuming Poe is out for a game or two (at least), it will be Howard, DeVito and Allen Bailey playing the majority of the snaps up front. This might continue to give general manager John Dorsey a pretty good idea of what to do in the offseason. DeVito and Howard are both free agents, leaving Dorsey with options. Howard is seeing his value rise with every snap, perhaps giving Dorsey the notion to sign him sooner rather than later?

In the meantime, let’s hope Poe can recover quickly and help Kansas City turn it around.