KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs placed right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and safety Armani Watts on injured reserve Tuesday and signed outside linebacker Frank Zombo to provide depth at that depleted position.

Hardly the way to begin a week of preparation for a visit to New England.

Duvernay-Tardif, who’s in the second year of a $42.36 million, five-year contract, broke a bone in his left leg with a few minutes left in Sunday’s 30-14 victory over Jacksonville. Jordan Devey replaced him for the rest of the game is likely to start against the Patriots this Sunday night.

“It’s non-weight bearing,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the fracture of Duvernay-Tardif’s fibula. “It’ll be a few weeks here, but we should be able to get him back.”

The Chiefs already placed safety Daniel Sorensen on injured reserve with a designation to return in training camp. Teams are allowed to active two players off IR each season.

That means Watts likely had his promising rookie season cut short after hurting his groin against the Jaguars. The fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M has been used heavily after the injury to Sorensen and with fellow safety Eric Berry sidelined since the start of training camp with a troublesome heel.

His best performance came two weeks ago in Denver, when Watts had his first career sack.

The Chiefs have been surviving in the secondary with veteran Ron Parker, who signed just before the start of the season, anchoring a hodgepodge group of safeties. Eric Murray has been starting alongside him, but left the game against Jacksonville with an injury to his lower leg.

Jordan Lucas, who arrived in a trade with Miami a week before the start of the season, had played almost exclusively on special teams before Sunday. He wound up playing some important snaps against the Jaguars, and picked off Blake Bortles for his first career interception.

Depending on the health of Murray, he could get his shot to start in New England.

“He’s a type-A personality. He is a bubbly guy with a big personality and a sharp kid,” Reid said. “They’ve been working hard and making sure they are thinking the same way and on the same page with all the adjustments they have to make. He has done a nice job of it. You saw by the reaction after they had to the interception. The guys were happy for him.”

There are even bigger questions at outside linebacker.

Justin Houston was forced out of last week’s game with a hamstring injury, Tanoh Kpassagnon hurt his ankle and Dee Ford has been hobbled off and on much of the season. That forced Kansas City to use rookie Breeland Speaks late in the game, when the Jaguars were trying desperately to mount a comeback.

It’s also why general manager Brett Veach reached out to Zombo, who spent the past five seasons with the Chiefs before getting cut in training camp. He’s versatile enough to play inside or outside while his experience in defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s system means he can be up to speed quickly.

“(Veach) is always going to try to stay one step ahead of it,” Reid said. “Again, he’s working off what we’re getting medically, so he’s got to make sure we’ve got all that taken care of.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes had finally thrown an interception, the first all season for the Chiefs’ talented young quarterback, and the Jacksonville offense had shuffled back onto the field.

The Chiefs immediately strip-sacked Blake Bortles to take the ball right back.

Their beleaguered defense also picked off Bortles four times and sacked him five, and Chris Jones took one of those interceptions back for a touchdown, proving during a 30-14 romp over Jacksonville on a soggy Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium that the Chiefs are more than just an offensive dynamo.

“It shows what kind of team we are,” said Mahomes, who finished with 313 yards passing and ran for a touchdown. “I’m just excited to come out with a win on a day the defense made plays.”

Oh, the league’s highest-scoring offense still made plays.

Kareem Hunt ran for 87 yards and a touchdown, and Travis Kelce hauled in five catches for 100 yards, helping the Chiefs (5-0) move the ball at will against the NFL’s top-rated defense.

Tyreek Hill, who was frequently matched up with the Jaguars’ Jalen Ramsey in an entertaining one-on-one affair, added four catches for 61 yards as the Chiefs rolled up 424 yards total.

“That play calling was something I’ve never seen before,” said the Jaguars’ Tashaun Gipson, who picked off Mahomes before leaving with a groin injury. “Tip your hat to them. Obviously, the offensive personnel they’ve got — they came out here and they beat us.”

The game eventually grew into a testy affair, resulting in a pair of ejections.

Jones was booted in the second half after he dropped an elbow on a Jaguars lineman while both were on the ground following a point-after attempt. Then, pass rusher Dee Ford joined him in the locker room when he was whistled for his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“You can’t let emotions get the best of you,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.

If anybody had reason to get frustrated it was Bortles, who was 33 of 61 for 430 yards with a touchdown and those four interceptions . Most of his yardage came in garbage time, and while he ran for a touchdown, he also was strip-sacked during Jacksonville’s miserable first half.

Mahomes led the Chiefs 73 yards on their first possession, finishing the drive himself with a short scramble for a touchdown. Then he led the league’s high-powered offense 82 yards for a field goal a few minutes later, leaving Jacksonville’s vaunted D second-guessing itself.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars’ offense was having all kinds of problems.

Jacksonville (3-2) drove inside the Kansas City 5 early in the second quarter, but an incomplete fade on third down and another incompletion on fourth turned the ball over. Bortles was stripped on the first play of their next possession, and he threw the pick-6 to Jones on the first play of the next.

The calamitous half ended when Bortles, trying to force a pass into the end zone, instead bounced it off his offensive lineman’s helmet and right to Steven Nelson for another interception.

“It felt a lot like some games we’ve had in the past, just moved the ball, there were some good things done, we had some bad turnovers,” Bortles said. “You can’t turn the ball over.”

In Bortles’ defense, his offensive line didn’t give him a whole lot of time. Along with the five sacks, the Chiefs were credited with 11 hurries, spending most of the game in his face.

Bortles’ only real highlight came late in the game, when he escaped the collapsing pocket and angled toward the sideline, then lowered his shoulder to finish off a 21-yard touchdown run .

The Jaguars recovered the onside kick, only for the Chiefs to force another turnover on downs.

“They did a good job early in the game getting a lead. They did a good job early on third downs in the game. Offensively, we didn’t execute,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said. “Again, we had a poor showing in the red zone, we had turnovers, and the game got out of hand. Got to play better. We’ve got to coach better, play better. We got to go back and get this team back on track.”

RAMSEY VS HILL

Hill had nothing but praise for Ramsey after the game, though he did beat the Jaguars cornerback for one long gain. As for Ramsey? “I felt like I did pretty well. Really well, to be honest,” he said. “I won the majority of the matchups today, put it that way.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The Chiefs’ first TD was the first allowed by Jacksonville on a team’s opening possession. … The Jaguars have not started 2-0 on the road since the 2007 season. … Jaguars RB T.J. Yeldon had 53 yards rushing. … Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins had six catches for 78 yards.

INJURIES

Jaguars: RB Corey Grant (foot) and LT Josh Wells (groin) left in the first half. Ramsey left on the opening series after taking a knee to the helmet, but returned to play the rest of the game.

Chiefs: OLBs Justin Houston (hamstring) and Tanoh Kpassagnon (ankle) and FSs Armani Watts (groin) and Eric Murray (lower leg) left the game in the first half. RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif left in the final minutes with a fractured fibia in his left leg.

UP NEXT

Jaguars: Visit the Cowboys next Sunday.

Chiefs: Head to New England for a Sunday night showdown.

— Associated Press —