Chiefs Make Quarterback Move After Getting Gardner Minshew Injury Update

Kansas City is down two quarterbacks at the moment.

Chiefs quarterback Gardner Minshew avoided tearing his ACL, but still remains out. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Chiefs received some positive quarterback news on Monday, something they desperately needed with Patrick Mahomes being out for the season with a torn ACL. On Sunday vs. the Titans, Kansas City backup quarterback Gardner Minshew was believed to tear his ACL after he left the contest early with a knee injury.

The Chiefs learned on Monday, though, that Minshew avoided tearing his ACL, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. However, Minshew still has a knee injury and was later put on the season-ending injured reserve list by the Chiefs. Rapoport said his official diagnosis is a non-displaced tibial plateau fracture.

Third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun is expected to start on Thursday with Mahomes and Minshew both out. It was unknown who Oladokun’s backup would be in the final two weeks of the season as the Chiefs didn’t have another quarterback on the depth chart. The team fixed that problem on Monday as well by signing Shane Buechele off of the Bills’ practice squad, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

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Buechele previously was listed on the Chiefs’ roster in 2021–22 to back up Mahomes if needed. Buechele has yet to play in an NFL game as he’s remained either on practice squads or the inactive lists.

Despite Buechele’s lack of action in his NFL career, at least the Chiefs have a backup option if a worst-case scenario takes place.

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