KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 26: Lucas Niang #67 of the Kansas City Chiefs prepares to block Chris Rumph II #94 of the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter at Arrowhead Stadium on September 26, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
Some rough news has come in for the Kansas City Chiefs, as tackle Lucas Niang was carted off with what looks to be a serious knee injury.
The Kansas City Chiefs were facing some injury adversity for the offensive line entering Sunday’s tilt with the Bengals and things just got a bit tougher. That’s because offensive tackle Lucas Niang went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off.
As soon as Niang went down, you could see he was in a ton of pain. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes also had plenty of concern on his face seeing the big lineman down on the turf.
Lucas Niang knee injury came at brutal time for the Chiefs
Usually a right tackle, Niang had to make the switch to left tackle after stud Orlando Brown went down with an injury of his own during warmups. There’s been plenty of movement on the line already for this team, but it doesn’t appear to be impacting Mahomes.
In the first quarter alone, Mahomes tossed touchdowns to Travis Kelce and DeMarcus Robinson. The Cincinnati defense hasn’t had much luck trying to contain him. Entering the matchup, there was so much talk about Kansas City being on upset alert, but they’ve performed quite well.
Having said that, all the injuries for the guys up front is no question a big-time concern for head coach Andy Reid. Losing Brown was one thing, but now that Niang went down, the Chiefs are having to play Joe Thuney at left tackle instead of his usual left guard spot.
It’s too early to tell how much time Brown and Niang will miss with their respective injuries. Obviously, the hope is it isn’t serious and they won’t be forced to miss extensive action.