Uncertainty looms over Chiefs’ kicking situation again this week

Despite rostering the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, the Kansas City Chiefs' kicking situation has been marred with uncertainty in 2022.

Harrison Butker, who has made over 90% of his field goal attempts since entering the league in 2017, hasn't played since spraining his left ankle in the first game of the season against the Arizona Cardinals. After releasing fill-in kicker Matt Ammendola after two games with the team, the Chiefs signed former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Matthew Wright to the practice squad on Tuesday.

Butker was able to return to practice on Wednesday, but according to special teams coordinator Dave Toub, he was held out on Thursday because of soreness. He wasn’t spotted at the team’s media look on Friday.

"Yeah, he (Butker) had a real good day [Wednesday]," Toub told media on Thursday. "He came out and he kicked and then the other kid (Wright) did well too, so we still got to wait and see. He's a little sore today, so we're not going to kick him today. You know we're trying to get him ready for the game, so we're just going to listen to the trainers and whatever they say we're going to do it."

Though Butker's absence may feel like a setback, Toub insists that it's nothing out of the ordinary for a player returning from injury.

"He hasn't done anything — as far as kicking as much as we did yesterday — for a while now," explained Toub. "That's why he's sore. It's not unusual for him to be sore from the workout we did yesterday."

Toub added that a decision on Butker's status for the Chiefs' matchup on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has yet to be made.

"It's going to come down right to the end till we have to make that decision (of) who's going to be up and down."