Cairo Santos injury update: Chiefs not rushing kicker back

The Kansas City Chiefs are taking their time to bring Cairo Santos back to practice as he recovers from a groin injury.

Sam Ficken looks like he’s still going to be around for a little while. The replacement kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs originally signed because there was no one on the 90-man roster to replace Cairo Santos. As Santos still deals with a groin injury that’s lingered for a few weeks, Ficken is getting his chance to show more of what he can do.

So Ficken might want to go ahead and unpack that suitcase if he’s still living out of it. On Tuesday, special teams coach Dave Toub made it sound as if Chiefs fans should expect to see Santos practicing or performing in games any time soon. With two weeks left of the preseason, the Chiefs might use every day before the season to give Santos plenty of time to rest up before they open on the road at New England.

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At the very least, Ficken will be the Chiefs kicker for another preseason game, his third, when K.C. hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Friday. It also sounds as if Ficken could still be in play at the end of the month when the Chiefs face the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs officially open the season on Thursday, September 7 against the Patriots.

Santos had a career year last season for the Chiefs, as he completed 8 of 9 field goals from 40 yards or beyond. He also made a career-high 88.6% of all field goal attempts and matched a career-high with 129 total points scored.