Kansas City Chiefs dealt major injury blow with three-time Super Bowl champion headed to injured reserve list

A replacement has already been lined up

UNBEATEN Kansas City Chiefs have been dealt a major injury blow after Harrison Butker was placed on the injury reserve list.

The kicker was on the field and working with team-mates on Thursday when practice began.

Harrison Butker has been moved to the Kansas City Chiefs reserved list
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Harrison Butker has been moved to the Kansas City Chiefs reserved listCredit: Getty

Butker will undergo surgery in his left knee and miss at least the next four games
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Butker will undergo surgery in his left knee and miss at least the next four gamesCredit: Getty
However, according to ESPN, he will now need to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

And by going on IR, it will rule him out for at least the next four games.

That means Butker, 29, will miss this Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills before being out for clashes against the Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers.

With his absence of at least four weeks, he could be back in time to face the Cleveland Browns on December 15.

Fortunately, the only other change to the Chiefs’ injury list was a positive one.

Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster moved from limited to full participation following a hamstring injury, meaning he could be back in action this weekend.

However, defensive end Charles Omenihu and running back Isiah Pacheco, who have knee and ankle injuries respectively, were not moved from the limited list.

Coach Andy Reid added they were not likely to move off of injured reserve this week.

In place of three-time Super Bowl champion Butker, the Chiefs will be signing kicker Spencer Shrader from the New York Jets practice squad on their 53-player roster.

Shrader has kicked one game this season for both the Indianapolis Colts and the Jets.

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Jets special teams coach Brant Boyer said of the 25-year-old: “Kid’s got a lot of talent.

“I think he handled it really well in doing what we asked him to do and syncing up with those guys and doing a great job in the game, for sure.

“He’s a young guy and it’s shown that he has a really good leg.

“He showed it in his college tape, and he showed it in his preseason stuff.”

That may lead to the Jets fielding their fourth kicker in as many games after Anders Carlson was signed from the Jets’ practice squad last week.

Butker is one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history.

He ranks third all-time with a staggering 89.2 field goal percentage made since his rookie year in 2017.

Butker was kicking at plus 90 per cent this season, having made 18 out of 20 field goal attempts and 21 out of 22 on point (95.5 per cent) after attempts.

He had found his mark with all three of his field goal attempts against the Denver Broncos in Week 10.