The Kansas City Chiefs are a bit closer to potentially adding Laurent Duvernay-Tardif back on the field as he returns from a broken fibula.
In early October, the Kansas City Chiefs served notice to the Jacksonville Jaguars that their defense was no match for K.C.’s potent offense. It was another early season victory for the Chiefs and helped to establish the team as a legitimate Super Bowl contender (at least based on the way the Jags looked at the time). However, it was also a win that came with a cost.
Both safety Armani Watts and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif were lost to long-term injuries on that day. Watts went on to have surgery on a core muscle injury that placed him on injured reserve, and LDT followed suit by also going on IR with a broken leg. Further details confirmed a broken fibula along with torn ligaments that complicated things for the former sixth-round pick.
Check out the following from Tuesday from Duvernay-Tardif on Twitter:
After 6 weeks, I finally drop the scooter. Thanks you all for your support. Now the real rehab can start! 😃#LetsRoll #Realfriends #Twinning pic.twitter.com/GwgHmSZgwk
— Laurent D. Tardif (@LaurentDTardif) November 26, 2018
Andy Reid came out earlier last week and stated that the Chiefs were going to be able to pick one of either Watts or Duvernay-Tardif back off of injured reserve as one of two players a team can bring back from such a list. Safety Daniel Sorensen was the first player to come off of IR this year and he’s continuing to find his footing week to week.
WIthout LDT in the lineup, the Chiefs backups have stepped up quite well as both Duvernay-Tardif and Mitch Morse have missed significant time. Austin Reiter has filled in at center and Andrew Wylie has covered in LDT’s absence quite well. If the Chiefs are forced to go without both for any longer, the good news is that the team’s offensive interior has held up this well so far with a few more very winnable games to go in the regular season.