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Kansas City Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen is “expected to miss time,” as first reported by NFL.com staff writer Herbie Teope.
#Chiefs S Daniel Sorensen, whom Chiefs were evaluating for a knee injury, does not have a torn ACL, but he is expected to miss time, possibly into early part of regular season with a leg injury, according a source.
— Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) August 7, 2018
Early blow to the Chiefs defense, as Daniel Sorensen was projected to start the regular season alongside Eric Berry on the back end of coverage.
— Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) August 7, 2018
UPDATE (7:53 p.m. Arrowhead Time): ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms that Sorensen will have surgery on his knee:
Chiefs’ safety Daniel Sorensen will undergo knee surgery and “will miss the first part of the (regular) season”, according to a source. Sorensen was having a strong camp but now will miss the remainder of the preseason and then some.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 8, 2018
UPDATE (8:07 p.m. Arrowhead Time): The Athletic KC’s Nate Taylor says recovery time could take up to eight weeks:
I can confirm, per source, that Daniel Sorensen will have knee surgery involving the tibia that will force him to miss the preseason. Recovery could take up to 8 weeks.
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) August 8, 2018
Something about the way Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke about Sorensen on Tuesday morning gave me the feeling this was coming.
It’s a bad break for Sorensen, who was set to being the season as a starting safety next to Eric Berry.
“Dan hurt his knee,” Reid said when asked about Sorensen Tuesday morning. “He’s being evaluated. We just have to see here exactly where that thing is going.”
Thursday night’s game will be telling as to what the Chiefs’ early plan is at safety, but expect former 2016 fourth-rounder Eric Murray to get the first opportunity.
Second-year S Leon McQuay and offseason signee and seven-year veteran Robert Golden are also in the mix.
The loss of Sorensen may also need to expedite the development of rookie fourth-rounder Armani Watts.
“Armani Watts is a guy we just think will be a matter of just grasping the checks and the adjustments and be able to call the show back there,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said after the draft in late April. “He’s another guy who will be able to come on here and play on teams and work in with Dan Sorensen and those guys—you have EB (Eric Berry) that will be there, but then Eric Murray and you have Sorensen and then you kind of work Watts in there and let him get his feet underneath him and let him grasp the system.
“It’s a little bit different for those safeties because they’re sometimes like the quarterback there on the defense, so they have to know where to line up people and call in adjustments. That’s no different than any safety, even if you’re drafted in the first round, just being able to go out there and line people up and all that kind of stuff.”
The free-agent market for safeties includes former Chief Tyvon Branch, Eric Reid and TJ Ward.