The Kansas City Chiefs will be without two of their same defensive starters in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles: defensive end Frank Clark and cornerback Charvarius Ward. Both players were trending this way during the week of practice as they were limited in practice, and the Chiefs made it official before game day with an announcement.
For the Chiefs, this means they will attempt to get the defense on track without one of their cornerstone defensive ends and a starter outside in the secondary.
Unfortunately the Chiefs are fairly experienced in being without Clark, given that he’s only been healthy in Week 2 so far this season. Clark missed Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns with a hamstring injury, and this will be the second straight week he’s missed with another hamstring injury in his opposite leg.
As for Ward, he also missed last week and the Chiefs elevated Deandre Baker to the list of actives after sitting as a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season. Expect Baker to look more comfortable out there this time around.
The cornerback corps will be tested overall, however, since Rashad Fenton has been sitting out with a concussion all week. The team already declared him out as well, and as a versatile sub who can be relied on inside and out, the Chiefs will be tasked with moving forward with a thin overall unit. The team did promote DiCaprio Bootle from the practice squad. He signed as a rookie free agent from the University of Nebraska earlier this spring.