Why this Chiefs starter — with hurt knee — returned for Patrick Mahomes’ final drive

Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Wanya Morris hurt his knee early in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos, then sat out more than 30 game minutes in KC’s 16-14 home victory over the Denver Broncos.

So why did the second-year Morris return to the game early in the fourth quarter — and just in time to protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the game-deciding drive?

“Coach just called my number,” Morris said in front of his locker after the game. “They needed me at that moment, so that’s what I went and did.”

Let’s be more specific. “Coach,” in this instance, was offensive line coach Andy Heck.

Before that point, Morris had remained on the sideline in the second and third quarters, at times riding a stationary bike to keep his knee loose.

Heck came up to Morris with more urgency early in the fourth.

“Coach Heck asked me if I was ready, if I was good,” Morris said. “I said, yeah, I was good.”

Morris subbing back in — for teammate Kingsley Suamataia — took place at an opportune time.

With Morris in, Mahomes led the Chiefs on a 10-play, 44-yard drive, which ended with a Harrison Butker field goal that gave KC its final winning margin of 16-14.

Most importantly, Morris provided some stability on the left side after Suamataia struggled to keep Denver’s pass-rushers away from Mahomes most of the day.

NFL’s Next Gen Stats provided some of the ugly details.

According to the service, the Broncos’ Nik Bonitto created six pressures against the Chiefs, which included three in less than 2 1/2 seconds. Four of Bonitto’s pressures came on 11 one-on-one matchups with Suamataia.

Bonitto didn’t have as much success against Morris, who allowed one pressure on 15 pass-blocking snaps against him.

Mahomes’ stats suffered with the chaos. According to Next Gen Stats, the Chiefs QB was 5-for-14 for 92 yards when pressured, with a negative-18 completion percentage over expectation in that setting — his worst mark this season.

Pro Football Focus’ preliminary grades also underscored Suamataia’s rough day. According to its tracking, Suamataia surrendered four total pressures, while Morris had one.

Morris said his message to Suamataia during the game was to remain positive. He described Suamataia as a “great guy, a great player” and later said he was “gonna recover a major number from this.”

“You’ve got to know that stuff happens. It’s a crazy league, and you’re gonna have great rushes like that (against you),” Morris said. “But the main thing is going in the lab and put your head down and keep working, man. Just find out what you can get better at, and that’s all that really matters.”

Teammates were still thankful that Morris grinded it out late.

That included Mahomes, who faced pressure on 20 of his 49 dropbacks (41%) according to Next Gen Stats — the highest rate he’s had since Week 8 last season against Denver.

“He’s a fighter,” Mahomes said of Morris. “He’s someone who gets in there, and he puts it all on the line, and that’s what you want on the football team, is someone that can fight through injury and play. I was proud of him.”

Chiefs right guard Trey Smith described playing O-line in the NFL as a “tough-ass job,” before saying Morris did a “phenomenal job” when he went back in.

“You’re not gonna be at your best anytime you step in that field. We understand that coming into it,” Smith said. “And for him to push through and gut through it and be resilient in the fact of the matter, it’s impressive.”

The Chiefs will be searching for some offensive fixes after rewatching the film of this one.

Denver’s front seven held its own against KC’s offensive line, and as a result, the Chiefs’ usually reliable run game never got going while averaging just 3 yards per attempt.

“They were just doing a good job of getting penetration,” Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt said, “and making it tough to see some lanes.”

In the end, the Chiefs persevered late, thanks to the passing game. Mahomes completed 4 of 6 throws for 43 yards on KC’s final drive, aided by a left tackle who went back in following his coach’s request.

“Coach told me if they needed me, they were gonna put me in there, and that’s what happened. They needed me,” Morris said. “I went in there. I executed. It’s just the name of the game, going in when your number’s called.”