KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday afternoon, placing right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and safety Armani Watts on injured reserve and re-signing veteran free agent linebacker Frank Zombo.
The club also made a move on the practice squad, moving linebacker Robert McCray to the injured practice squad list.
Duvernay-Tardif suffered a fractured fibula in Sunday's game against Jacksonville and expects to miss several weeks. The injured reserve designation means he must miss at least eight weeks.
Watts left Sunday's game with a groin injury. The team didn't suggest the injury as serious, but the injured reserve designation means he also must miss at least eight weeks.
Players placed on injured reserve cannot practice for at least six weeks. Teams can bring players back to practice at the point for up to three weeks. At that point the club must return the player to the active roster or leave them on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
The Chiefs can only bring two players back from injured reserve. The club currently has three players on IR eligible to return: Duvernay-Tardif, Watts and safety Daniel Sorensen. Only two can come back this season.
Sorensen was expected to miss at least the first half of the season with a tibial plateau fracture in his knee.
The return of Zombo comes with the expectation linebacker Justin Houston may miss a few weeks with a hamstring injury. With Dee Ford nursing a groin injury the last few weeks and Tanoh Kpassagnon tweaking his ankle against Jacksonville on Sunday, the outside linebacker group found its depth sorely tested.
Zombo brings familiarity with defensive coordinator Bob Sutton's scheme. He played 80 games over the past five seasons with the Chiefs, including 20 starts during the last two seasons. The 31-year-old Zombo has 194 total tackles over eight NFL seasons along with 12 1/2 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception.