Charvarius Ward injury update: Chiefs cornerback fractures hand vs. Texans
By Matt Conner
Charvarius Ward left Thursday’s game with a hand injury against the Texans.
The Kansas City Chiefs walked away from Arrowhead Stadium feeling good about most aspects of their performance against the Houston Texans on Thursday, but they will have to deal with a few injuries in the weeks to come. Perhaps the biggest loss suffered on the field for the Chiefs was cornerback Charvarius Ward, who went down with a fractured hand.
Ward suffered the hand injury several minutes into the third quarter and left the game there. He was initially termed questionable to return, but the Chiefs changed that to out once they realized the extent of his injury.
After the game, Reid provided details of the fracture but no timeline was given. Further updates will come from Arrowhead in the next few days.
Rashad Fenton took over for Ward outside within the Chiefs defense and he’s likely going to stay there for at least another week, if not longer. Ward is likely to miss some time with the fracture, although it’s impossible to say how long. L’Jarius Sneed looked good on one boundary for the Chiefs in his pro debut, but the unit overall is still thin, even when Ward is healthy.
The secondary will receive a boost when Bashaud Breeland is eligible to return from suspension, but the Chiefs need to focus on their opening slate of games until then, since the veteran corner is out for the first full month of the season.
Without Ward and Breeland, Fenton and Sneed should hold things down outside while Antonio Hamilton contributes in the slot. It’s also possible that seventh round rookie Thakarius “BoPete” Keyes is called upon next week after being inactive for the Chiefs first game of the year. Chris Lammon, Rodney Clemons and Lavert Hill are also available on the practice squad.
Ward is a third-year player who is the Chiefs best overall cornerback and an emerging name on the team’s defense. Ward started all 16 games last year for K.C. and had 74 total tackles, 10 deflected passes, and 2 interceptions.