When Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton steps on the field Sunday in Indianapolis, his close friend and fellow linebacker Willie Gay won’t be there.
Gay is serving the first of a four-game suspension for an offseason incident that took place back in January. And though he will be missed, Bolton said the Chiefs are moving forward and will be ready when they play the Colts at noon at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Right now, it’s next man up,” Bolton said. “That’s the mindset we have right now. Again, Willie’s my guy. I’ve been checking in on him, and he’s keeping his head up, and we’re going to keep moving forward. But we got a lot of guys who come in here every single day and put work in since training camp to give us the opportunity to go out there and play and play our best.
“So we’re going to keep stacking days, and when we get Willie back, we’ll be ready to go. He’s going to be missed, but we have to keep going.”
Linebacker Darius Harris will step into the starting role with Gay out. Harris signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee in 2019. He didn’t play in a game that season but appeared in four games in 2020, seven games in 2021 and played in the Chiefs first two games this season.
Bolton said he’s confident Harris will step in and play well filling in for Gay.
“He’s been here for a while now,” Bolton said. “He knows the scheme like the back of his hand, kind of similar to me. So he comes in every single day and puts his heart out for the team, executes the game plan and flies around and has fun and plays with great energy.
“That’s kind of one of the things we pride our defense on, and I have no question he’s going to come in ready to play and make plays for us.”
Bolton, the second-year player out of Missouri, has recorded 20 tackles through the team’s first two games. And Bolton, who returned a fumble 86 yards for a touchdown last season against Denver, was still smiling over Jaylen Watson’s 99-yard pick-six last week against the Chargers.
Bolton said the play shows what this talented rookie class is made of.
“That was a special play,” Bolton said. “I was talking to him before the game, and I didn’t know he was going to be that big for us, but I knew he had a chance to go out there and make plays for us. So I was excited for him and that’s just a glimpse of what our young guys can do for this football team.”
BUTKER, DANNA OUT
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday that kicker Harrison Butker (ankle) and defensive end Mike Danna (calf) will miss Sunday’s game. Malik Herring will likely see action in the rotation with Danna out, and Matt Ammendola will continue to kick with Butker out.
Reid said it’s possible Butker could return next week at Tampa Bay.
