Kansas City Chiefs pass rusher Charles Omenihu suffered a torn ACL against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game and will miss Super Bowl LVIII against the San Fransico 49ers.
While addressing the media on Friday, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo explained his strategy to compensate for the loss of Omenihu, and let reporters know which players will have to step up in his absence.
“I’ll tell you; you don’t replace that height and that length that he [Charles Omenihu has, but we’ll have guys to step in there,” Spagnuolo said. “Felix [Anudike-Uzomah] 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.”
The loss of Omenihu may prove to be a major blow to the Chiefs’ defense, as the 26-year-old pass rusher accumulated seven sacks in 11 games played during the regular season.
Omenihu, who previously played for the 49ers before signing a two-year, $16 million contract with the Chiefs this past offseason, had a strip sack against the Ravens that resulted in a key turnover for Kansas City’s defense.
