Posted by Will Brinson

Last Monday, we noted that Kansas City lost quarterback Matt Cassel to a hand injury that required surgery and would likely knock him out for the season.

Cassel's injury appears to have done just that, as prior to Monday night's game in New England, the Chiefs placed the quarterback on injured reserve Monday afternoon, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

Tyler Palko was expected to start for the "foreseeable future" anyway, but now it looks like the Chiefs will ride out the former Pittsburgh Panther (and Steeler) for the entire season, unless they decide to sign an additional veteran.

Interestingly, as my colleague Dan Marino notes in the Monday night preview below, Palko is the reason Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco transferred from Pitt to Delaware. Ergo, he must be capable.

As Brian McIntyre of Mac's Football Blog notes, the Chiefs now have $37.5 million in total cash sitting on Injured Reserve.

Cassel, Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry going down for the season will do that to you.


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Posted by Will Brinson

The 2011 season's been quite the rollercoaster for the Chiefs. But after back-to-back losses to the Dolphins and Broncos, things are going to get worse, as Matt Cassel has a "significant" hand injury, will need surgery and could miss the rest of the year.

That means it's Shane Falco Tyler Palko time in Kansas City -- Todd Haley confirmed the news.

"We feel good about Tyler, or he wouldn’t be our No. 2," Haley said, per our via our Chiefs Rapid Reporter Bob Gretz. "I have belief in Tyler. He has a great understanding of how our offense works and his role in it."

Haley also indicated that Cassel, who injured his hand in the fourth quarter while being sacked by Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, could end up on injured reserve, depending on how surgery went.

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"It’s possible, but I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute," Haley said Monday.

The only absolute is that Palko's starting, and Haley said he would do so "for the foreseeable future." Palko went undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2007, but was signed by the Saints. Since then he's bounced in and out of the NFL before landing with the Chiefs over the past two years.

Palko's completed nine of 13 passing attempts over the past two years, including five of seven in replacement duty for Cassel on Sunday.

And now he'll get an interesting little trial by fire as the Chiefs play the Patriots, the Steelers, the Bears, the Jets and the Packers over the next five weeks.


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