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Kansas City Chiefs DT Khalen Saunders hasn’t been active since earlier this season. In fact, he’s been a healthy scratch for the past five games for the Chiefs. We now have some answers about why the third-round draft pick from 2019 has been inactive all this time.
Saunders suffered an elbow dislocation in Week 1 against the Houston Texans and was subsequently placed on injured reserve. The athletic defensive tackle made his return from IR ahead of Week 7. He played just 15 snaps in Week 7, the most he has played all season. He didn’t play particularly bad either, recording a key solo tackle.
While Saunders was on the injury report up until Week 13, he’s been a full participant in practice each week. When Chiefs HC Andy Reid was asked about his absence, he explained that the injury has played a role in Saunders’ inability to see the field.
“That and some of the other guys that have been in there have done ok,” Reid said. “You put one up, you’ve got to put one down. That’s one of the negatives of when you get injured. Somebody steps in and does pretty good, then that’s what goes on. He’s definitely a good football player and his time will come here.”
There are only so many repetitions to go around at the defensive tackle position. Right now, the Chiefs use a four-man rotation with Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennel and Tershawn Wharton. Unfortunately for Saunders, his injury opened up the opportunity for a player like Wharton to come in and make an impression. Wharton has been one of the better rookie defensive linemen in the NFL this season and the team isn’t going to bench him based on seniority.
Thankfully, Saunders is a team-player and he knows that what Reid says is true. He’ll have an opportunity to play eventually. Right now, his job is to keep working and stay ready. That way, when the time comes for him to fill in, he’ll be able to make the type of impression that’ll make it hard for the coach to send him back to the bench.
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