Report: Chiefs putting kicker Butker on injured reserve ahead of knee procedure

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs are putting kicker Harrison Butker on injured reserve while he undergoes a procedure on his knee, though they hope to have him back for the playoffs, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The Chiefs are expected to sign Spencer Shrader off the Jets' practice squad to fill in for at least the next four weeks, added the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had yet to announce the roster moves.

Kansas City (9-0) travels to Buffalo (8-2) on Sunday for a game that could have major implications for the AFC playoff race.

Butker has been the third-most accurate kicker in NFL history since joining the league in 2017, trailing only Justin Tucker and Eddy Pineiro by making nearly 90% of his attempts. He is 18 of 20 on field-goal attempts this year, including a 51-yarder as time expired to give the unbeaten Chiefs a 26-25 victory over the Bengals.

Butker also holds the record for the longest field goal in franchise history with a 62-yarder against the Bills in 2022.

The 29-year-old Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion, has made as much news off the field as on it this year. In May, he delivered a polarizing commencement address at Benedictine College, a private Catholic liberal arts school in Kansas, in which he said — among other things — that most of the women receiving degrees were probably more excited about getting married and having children, and that some Catholic leaders were “pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.”

Butker also assailed Pride month, an important time for the LGBTQ+ community, and President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion.

The NFL distanced itself from Butker’s comments, issuing a statement afterward that said: “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

Butker later formed a political action committee designed to encourage Christians to vote for what the UPRIGHT PAC called “traditional values," and he said he would be supporting Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley in the November election; the incumbent lawmaker wound up defeating Democrat Lucas Kunce by a wide margin.

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