Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu suffered a torn ACL on Sunday and will miss Super Bowl LVIII, several reports said Monday.
After a high-scoring start to the AFC Championship Game that saw the Chiefs go on top 14-7, Omenihu made a key strip-sack of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson recovered by teammate George Karlaftis. The Chiefs went on to win 17-10.
Some time later, Omenihu left the game to have his right knee evaluated for an injury.
After reports about his ACL surfaced Monday, the 26-year-old seemed to confirm his diagnosis when he posted a single broken-heart emoji on X (formerly Twitter).
The Chiefs will play in their fourth Super Bowl in five seasons and face the San Francisco 49ers — one of Omenihu’s former teams.
After the Houston Texans drafted him in the fifth round in 2019, Omenihu has collected 95 tackles, 52 quarterback hits, 18.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in 72 regular-season games (11 starts) over his career with Houston (2019-21), San Francisco (2021-22) and Kansas City.
He had career highs of 7.0 sacks and 28 tackles in 11 regular-season games (one start) for the Chiefs this year.
–Field Level Media