Chiefs K Butker has knee surgery, expected back this season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs expect Harrison Butker to be kicking for them later this season, coach Andy Reid said.

Reid said he wasn’t certain of a timeline for the return of Butker, who underwent surgery Friday after tearing his meniscus, but said it would be this season. Butker was placed on the injured reserve list, meaning he will miss at least the next four weeks, including Sunday’s game against the Bills in Buffalo.

He is eligible to return as soon as a Week 15 game against the Browns in Cleveland.

Butker tweeted that his procedure was a success.

He missed four games early in the 2022 season with a sprained ankle. Things didn’t always go so well for the Chiefs without him.

One of their replacements,  Matt Ammendola, missed a short field goal and an extra point in one of the games without Butker, a three-point loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Butker’s replacement this time is rookie Spencer Shrader, who kicked in two games this season, one for the Colts and one for the New York Jets. He made both of his field goal attempts last week for the Jets.

“The ones he’s had, he’s done a nice job with, and we feel comfortable with that,” Reid said.

Butker is one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history. He’s third all time, having made 89.2% of his field goal attempts since joining the Chiefs as a rookie in 2017.

This year he is 18-of-20 for 90%. But Reid acknowledged the Chiefs are heading into the unknown as opposed to having the reliability of Butker.

“He’s a young guy, so his résumé isn’t long,” Reid said of Shrader.