The Chiefs have had a kicking problem for a while.
But at least this week, they’re still sticking with Harrison Butker.
Butker While Butker was one of the league’s most accurate kickers for years, that has not been the case over the last few seasons. He’s now missed 17 kicks since the start of last year, which is a league-high.
Butker’s struggles led the Chiefs to sign former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to the practice squad. But to this point, Kansas City hasn’t used Tucker in a game.
This week, special teams coordinator Dave Toub once again told reporters why the club is sticking with Butker.
“We’re going to keep pounding it,” Toub said, via transcript from the team. “We’re going to keep working it and keep kicking him.
“He’s going to come through it. I mean, we’re confident that he will. We’re just going to keep practicing him and keep working on little things, and he’s looked good in practice. There’s a reason why he’s still our kicker.”
Butker has made 12-of-19 field goals and 22-of-23 extra points so far in 2026.
The Chiefs brought in a receiver at the trading deadline, acquiring Josh Downs from the Colts.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that he’s excited to get going with the wideout.
“I think you can tell just the intellect and how he’s able to pick stuff up and that he’s a professional, that he knows what he’s doing and he wants to come in and just compete and to have success, and he wants to win. And so, I’m excited for that,” Mahomes said, via transcript from the team. “And then you can just see him interacting with the other receivers in the room. You can tell that there’s going to be a great cohesion there, and that’s the type of guys you want on the team, that want to compete and that want to win.”
Mahomes noted he’s impressed with the way Downs can win his one-on-one matchups.
“He runs routes really well,” Mahomes said. “He sets them up really well where he will run a route early in the game that he sets up for another one later in the game. And then he has really good feel, you can tell, obviously, playing in the system that he has, he has a lot of read-type routes, and you can tell he knows how to get himself open, settle in the right zones, and win versus man [coverage] when he can.
“And so, I think it will be an easy transition for him to kind of do that stuff in our offense. Then, with how we do things, he can play a lot of different positions as we move receivers and tight ends around.”
The quarterback also sees it as realistic for Downs to play and contribute early on in his tenure with Kansas City. While that begins with plenty of reps at practice, Mahomes and the rest of the offense can direct Downs to where he needs to be during games if necessary.
“[W]e do a great job of kind of moving guys in and out of every single position, and so guys know the entire concepts of the plays,” Mahomes said. “We’re very detailed with how we call the plays in the huddle, which will help him out a ton.
“Then when he doesn’t know, being able to talk to me in the huddle or talk to the guys as they’re breaking the huddle, and that usually helps when the guys like each other. And so, it’s good to have a guy that you can tell everybody’s going to like, and that he has his head on the right way, and he’s going to make sure that he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”
In nine games with the Colts this year, Downs caught 33 passes for 354 yards with one touchdown.
The Chiefs and 49ers both traded for a receiver at this week’s deadline, as Kansas City acquired Josh Downs and San Francisco brought in Keenan Allen.
But both clubs had a bigger fish in mind.
Per Rich Cimini of ESPN, both the Chiefs and 49ers showed interest in the Jets’ Garrett Wilson.
But, as Cimini notes, Wilson did not want to leave New York and the club did not want to trade Wilson, who’s arguably the team’s best player. The Jets view Wilson, who is under contract through 2030, as a foundational piece.
Wilson, the No. 10 overall pick of the 2022 draft, agreed to a four-year, $130 million deal in July. The Jets had previously exercised Wilson’s fifth-year option in April.
After registering over 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons, injuries limited Wilson to just seven games last season. He caught 36 passes for 395 yards with four touchdowns.
In eight games so far in 2026, Wilson has 43 receptions for 527 yards with three TDs.
The 49ers made a trade for wide receiver Keenan Allen on Tuesday, but he wasn’t the only Colts wide receiver on their radar ahead of the trade deadline.
During a Thursday appearance on KNBR, General Manager John Lynch said that the team turned its attention to Allen after initially targeting Josh Downs as an addition to their receiver room. Lynch said that head coach Kyle Shanahan brought up Allen while watching film on Downs and conversations with the Colts began before they landed defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in an earlier deal with Indianapolis.
“We kind of focused on Josh Downs as an option that we’d have some interest,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “And Kyle and I are kind of watching Josh, and in the process, Kyle’s like, ‘Man, what about Keenan?’ And I was like, ‘You know, we hadn’t given much thought to that, but let me ask about that.’ And so, there started a conversation about two and a half weeks ago, really, when the DeForest talks [happened]. ‘Would he?’ And it’s always fluid, and at a certain time, they didn’t want to give up Keenan. It kind of wasn’t going to be on the table, but we kept communicating, and ultimately we got him.”
The 49ers sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Colts for Allen. Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick were eventually traded to the Chiefs for 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks.
Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr. made his season debut on Sunday after serving an eight-game suspension. Pearce played only 15 snaps in the loss to the Bengals, though, after back tightness late last week.
He had no stats.
Pearce rehabbed Wednesday, sitting out practice.
The Falcons also practiced without wide receiver Zachariah Branch (hamstring), linebacker Josh Woods (ankle) and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. (illness).
Linebacker Divine Deablo, who played with his arm wrapped against Cincinnati, was limited.
