KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, was placed on season-ending injured reserve Monday with a strained right hamstring.
Anudike-Uzomah sustained the injury early in the fourth quarter of Friday’s preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. He was chasing rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe when he fell to the turf awkwardly and began grabbing the hamstring. While grimacing, Anudike-Uzomah tried to walk off the field but fell to the turf again and signaled to the Chiefs that he needed help. He bowed his head and covered his eyes with his left hand.
Continuing his disappointing tenure with the Chiefs, Anudike-Uzomah’s third season — one the team hoped would lead to him making sizable improvements — now has ended before the preseason finale.
“That’s a tough thing,” Reid said Monday of Anudike-Uzomah’s injury. “He’s worked hard. Any time [missed] for [an injury] is disappointing for him, I know, because he works so stinking hard.”
In April 2023, the NFL draft was held in Kansas City. The Chiefs began the event by having quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce hoist the Vince Lombardy Trophy, following the team’s comeback win in Super Bowl LVII, on a stage in front of Union Station. The draft’s first round that night concluded when the Chiefs used the 31st pick to select Anudike-Uzomah, who grew up in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and was a star at Kansas State. He attended his first NFL game — inside Arrowhead Stadium — when he was 7 years old.
Anudike-Uzomah didn’t play much as a rookie, recording 14 tackles, 1 forced fumble and a half-sack. He struggled with a limited role last season, recording 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. The biggest highlight in his career thus far was when he tackled Christian McCaffrey, the San Francisco 49ers’ star running back, for a 4-yard loss in the Chiefs’ comeback victory in Super Bowl LVIII.
In training camp earlier this month, Anudike-Uzomah slipped down the Chiefs’ depth chart, falling behind top backups Charles Omenihu and rookie Ashton Gillotte, who was selected in the third round.
Without Anudike-Uzomah, the Chiefs will rely heavily on a four-man rotation of edge rushers in George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, Omenihu and Gillotte.
