Patriots vs. Chiefs Friday injury report: Ted Karras out, six questionable for New England

The New England Patriots will be without two Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Starting center Ted Karras and rookie defensive tackle Byron Cowart have been ruled out for the December rematch of January’s AFC Championship Game. Neither Karras nor Cowart, dealing with knee and head injuries, respectively, returned to the practice fields by Friday.

And no kicker did. But an additional six Patriots are officially questionable.

Here’s the final injury report for the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium.

OUT

• Patriots: C Ted Karras (knee), DT Byron Cowart (head)
• Chiefs: RB Damien Williams (rib), CB Morris Claiborne (shoulder), CB Rashad Fenton (hamstring)

Karras entered last weekend having played every offensive snap for the Patriots this season. He would exit New England’s 28-22 loss to the Houston Texans with a reported MCL sprain, however, as James Ferentz stepped in at center. It was a game Cowart was ruled out ahead of. The defensive lineman by way of Auburn and Maryland had been listed as limited with a head injury on the final injury report of Week 13. Cowart has since been a non-participant for the past three Patriots practices.

Kansas City’s backfield will be missing its 1-A rusher for the second Sunday in a row. Williams had scored three touchdowns against New England in last season’s AFC title bout. His rib injury leaves the Chiefs’ depth chart with LeSean McCoy, Darwin Thompson and Spencer Ware after Darrel Williams went to injured reserve midweek. The Chiefs’ inactives will include a pair of cornerbacks in Claiborne and Fenton, as well.

QUESTIONABLE

• Patriots: WR Mohamed Sanu (ankle), WR Julian Edelman (shoulder), OT Marcus Cannon (illness), LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee), CB Jason McCourty (groin), S Patrick Chung (heel)
• Chiefs: DE Frank Clark (shoulder/illness), S Jordan Lucas (illness)

The Patriots removed Tom Brady from the injury report after the quarterback practiced fully on Friday. Brady had been limited because of elbow and toe ailments during the second practice of the week, while each of New England’s questionable remained in that capacity. All but McCourty, scratched in consecutive games because of a groin injury, saw the field at NRG Stadium. McCourty started at cornerback for the Patriots’ initial 10 games of the season.

Clark opened the week as a limited participant due to the shoulder injury that saw him exit Week 13 against the Oakland Raiders. The Kansas City defensive end, standing with five sacks and four turnovers, then missed practice on Thursday and Friday due to illness. Also closing the week as a non-participant for the Chiefs’ defense would be Lucas. The safety had been taken off the report the day prior after managing a shoulder injury of his own, yet resurfaced with an illness.