KC Chiefs DL Charles Omenihu to Have ACL Surgery Next Week
The Kansas City Chiefs are gearing up for Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers knowing they'll be without defensive lineman Charles Omenihu. Because of a torn ACL suffered in the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens, the fifth-year pass rusher will miss the most important game of the year.
According to a recent report, Omenihu will hold off on surgery until after Super Bowl festivities come to a close and the game is played. Per James Palmer of NFL Network, Omenihu's surgery is set to happen on Tuesday.
It isn't uncommon at all for players to wait a bit after ACL tears before undergoing surgery. Oftentimes, athletes and their medical teams will allow swelling to go down and then move on with the procedure. In the grand scheme of things, this won't have a huge impact on Omenihu's long-term recovery as he attempts to return next season.
Speaking of which, it's a foregone conclusion that Kansas City won't have one of its best defensive ends on the field for a chunk of the upcoming offseason program. Because his injury occurred in late January, Omenihu projects to face a timeline of several months before realistically being cleared to ramp things up. With training camp approaching in less than six months, the offseason free agent pickup is a potential candidate to start the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
Omenihu, 26, served a six-game suspension to begin the 2023-24 campaign but hit the ground running thereafter. In 11 games played to close out the regular season, he amassed seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits with a pair of forced fumbles. In the Chiefs' first two postseason contests in January, he played a combined 93 snaps along Steve Spagnuolo and Joe Cullen's defensive line.
Speaking to the media last week, Spagnuolo dove into Kansas City's possible replacement plan for Omenihu in the Super Bowl. He mentioned rookie Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who logged 103 snaps while Omenihu was suspended, as someone who may make his playoff debut on the grandest of stages.
“I’ll tell you, you don’t replace that height and that length that he has but we’ll get guys to step in there," Spagnuolo said. Felix will probably have to step in, everybody has to up their game in a Super Bowl anyway. Hopefully, like last week, I think it was decent in the first half where we didn’t have to play as many plays. If the play count gets up, that’s where it gets tough for George (Karlaftis) being out there a lot and Mike (Danna) and that’s when we have to have guys to step in there."
