Kansas City Chiefs will be without Lucas Niang, Rashad Fenton against Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without offensive tackle Lucas Niang and cornerback Rashad Fenton when they suit up to face the Denver Broncos in Week 13 at Arrowhead Stadium. Both players missed practice this week and have already been declared out, according to head coach Andy Reid who spoke with reporters on Friday.

Both players have been missing practice completely or at least in part all this week, so neither designation of being out for the game comes at a great shock. Niang hasn’t played in a game since Week 9 as it is and apparently is still making his way back from a rib injury. It should be noted that he was able to start the week of practice on Wednesday so there was apparently some progress and hope in his potential availability from rest over the bye.

Without Niang in the lineup at his typical spot at right tackle, the Chiefs will likely lean on Andrew Wylie to make his third consecutive start there after manning the role in the absence of Niang and Mike Remmers in each of the last two games. However, Kyle Long is also a possible name to watch there, depending on how ready he has looked in practice this week for the Chiefs.

As for Fenton, his loss is considerable in the team’s secondary given the sort of year he’s had. Fenton has broken out in 2021 as a third-year corner who has shown solid production inside and out and has graded as one of the NFL’s best young pass defenders, per Pro Football Focus so far this season. The Chiefs still have L’Jarius Sneed, Charvarius Ward and others but Fenton’s injury will hurt the team. The Chiefs have to hope his knee injury won’t linger too long.