Chiefs' defensive lineman misses practice due to knee contusion

As the Kansas City Chiefs continue to adjust to changes—losses and additions, both—to the trenches on defense, they encountered yet another hurdle toward any consistency up front with the news that another lineman was missing in practice.

The Chiefs gathered in practice on Wednesday to begin their week of prep for hosting the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon and found themselves doing so without Turk Wharton. The fifth-year defensive tackle was instead given the day off. As head coach Andy Reid said after practice, "Turk won’t go today. He had a knee contusion so we’re letting it rest today."

Wharton has been a revelation for the Chiefs along the defensive front this season with a career-high 2.5 sacks and 12 pressures through the first 8 games of the season. He's taken a significant leap forward as a disruptor, and it's clear that the considerable distance between the present and his season-ending ACL two full years ago is making the difference.

Consider that Wharton was always a raw project coming out of MIssouri S&T as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and it makes sense why he's a late bloomer in 2024. He missed most of his third season with the torn ACL and then last year was mostly about getting back on track where he was before physically while learning to mentally trust his knee again.

This season, Wharton has flourished as a healthy veteran alongside Chris Jones up front for the Chiefs and his leap in production has helped cover for the absence of Charles Omenihu to start the season. The Chiefs have also made a couple of acquisitions on the edges in Cam Thomas and Joshua Uche to mitigate the injuries to B.J. Thompson and Mike Danna.

Wharton's knee injury will be something to watch in practice, but the Chiefs are hoping resting it mid-week will allow them to have him back in the heart of the defensive front against their rivals on Sunday.