The Kansas City Chiefs will once again be without kicker Harrison Butker this weekend. The Chiefs ruled Butker out on Saturday morning, also announcing that they elevated Matthew Wright from the practice squad to take his place in the lineup.
Butker injured his ankle on a kickoff during the Chiefs' Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals. He later returned to kick a long field goal in that contest, but has not played since.
The Chiefs at first used safety/emergency kicker Justin Reid to kick an extra point and then kickoffs in Butker's absence, but used Matt Ammendola as their kicker in Weeks 2 and 3. Ammendola missed an extra point and a field goal in Kansas City's loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week, and he was released earlier this week.
Wright has appeared in 17 games over the last two seasons, connecting on 25 of 28 field goals with the Steelers (4 of 4 in three 2020 games) and Jaguars (21 of 24 in 14 games in 2021), with a long of 56 yards. He also went 20 of 22 on extra points, but only 7 of his 46 kickoffs (15.2%) went for touchbacks. It's therefore possible that Reid could be used on kickoffs against Tampa on Sunday night, as he has routinely booted kicks out of the end zone and could help maintain the field-position advantage in what should be a close game.
