Laurent Duvernay-Tardif of the Kansas City Chiefs will miss four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his hand at practice.
Laurant Duvernay-Tardif of the Kansas City Chiefs decided to make his return to the NFL after taking a year off to serve others. But it would be short-lived Ian Rapoport reported that the Chiefs offensive lineman would be out for an estimated four to six weeks with a broken hand.
“Chiefs OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif recently broke a bone in his hand at practice and is out 4-6 weeks, sources say. The good doctor, who was the 2020 [Sports Illustrated] Sportsperson of the Year for his work on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, does have a chance to play Week 1.”
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who opted out of the 2020 season, will have a delayed start for this season after an injury in practice
Duvernay-Tardif gained notoriety after his opting out of the 2020 NFL season and opting in to assisting those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming a Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award recipient for the 2021 ESPYs. With all of that, he still had no regrets opting out, even when his team made a second consecutive appearance in the Super Bowl.
“It means a lot because to be honest, when I made that decision, I felt like I was letting my team down,” Duvernay-Tardif told Yahoo! Sports. “And I was to a certain extent, you know? So feeling the support from coach Reid, from the guys, not only over the phone but also in the media and press conferences, it really means a lot. It’s what the team is all about.”
This injury doesn’t mean he won’t make the 53-man roster. Duvernay-Tardif has faced worse injuries like a broken fibula in 2018 during the fifth week of the season. He didn’t play until the AFC Championship against New England, as reported by the NFL.
There’s not many that can replace Duvernay-Tardif. The likelihood of the Chiefs removing him from the roster from a six week injury is highly unlikely, especially with the first week of the regular season being mid-September.
For now, the good doctor will have to be the good patient.