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The Kansas City Chiefs have protected a single player ahead of their Week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers.
Kansas City protected QB Shane Buechele according to the NFL’s personnel notice for Wednesday. This marks the fifth consecutive week the team has opted to protect Buechele.
This week also marks the first time in several weeks that the team has decided to not protect a linebacker, which indicates that Anthony Hitchens could be close to returning to action for the Chiefs. They’d previously protected Darius Harris for two consecutive weeks, elevating him to the 53-man roster both times. They’d also protected LB Christian Rozeboom back in Week 7, but he was signed to the Rams’ 53-man roster today.
The Chiefs have continued to protect their investment in Buechele by protecting him from poaching on the practice squad each week. It’s notable that they did so this week with a team like the Packers coming to town. They, of course, lost Aaron Rodgers to the COVID-19 list this morning and are short-handed at the quarterback position. The attrition of the NFL season is tough to navigate, but Kansas City is doing everything in its power to ensure that Buechele stays with the team for this season and beyond.
There are also some other short-term reasons to protect Buechele. Second-string QB Chad Henne banged up a finger on his throwing hand in practice last week. He was active on Monday, but it’s certainly something to monitor moving forward.
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