Charles Omenihu expected to return to the AFC Championship after knee injury

Kansas City’s defensive end discussed an injury he initially thought was minor on The Jim Rome Show on Monday.

Although the Kansas City Chiefs turned in a 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, one of their key players could not be a part of it.

Defensive end Charles Omenihu tore his ACL two weeks earlier as the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. Initially, there was some optimism about Omenihu’s injury — and the pass rusher emphatically stated to the media after the game that he would be ready for the Super Bowl.

Appearing on the Jim Rome Show on Monday, Omenihu reiterated that he did not believe the injury to be serious at the time — to the point that he initially hoped to reenter the game.

“I didn’t know that I actually tore my ACL, to be honest,” he recalled. “I did feel a buckle, but it didn’t seem too bad. They gave me several tests on my knee, and my knee [felt] super stable. So, I was actually trying to go back into the game. I tried to do high knees and I wasn’t able to, but I just thought it was maybe not insignificant but some kind of a little minor [injury]. My mind was just on trying to get ahead and see what it is, and I tried to remain positive because I was anticipating being ok in the Super Bowl.”

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Omenihu — who played for the 49ers from 2021-22 — signed with Kansas City last offseason. After serving a six-game suspension to start the season, he finished with seven sacks in 11 games — and had just forced a fumble, sacking league MVP Lamar Jackson before suffering his injury against Baltimore.

The best stretch of football thus far in his career made the injury even more devastating.

“I had a great year,” Omenihu stated. “I had seven sacks in 11 games and then got a strip-sack in the AFC Championship game to kind of turn the game around a little for us and sway momentum. I felt like I was on a hot streak. I had six games in a row where I had a sack during the regular season. Everything for me was just trying to remain positive. When they told me the news, it kind of all just hit me at once, to be honest. Who wants to miss out on playing in a Super Bowl — especially playing against their former team?

Being there for his team, however, became Omenihu’s motivation.

“I definitely had those moments,” he admitted, “of, ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why now?’ and ‘How is this happening?’ because I was having so much success. I made a big play during the game, and I full on thought I was going to continue the same momentum into the Super Bowl — into the biggest game of my career. I definitely had those feelings, but I at the same time, I was able to compartmentalize while I was in the building to want to be with the team during the week.”

Although unable to play for the week, the former 49er took it upon himself to help the Chiefs prepare for San Francisco’s defense.

“I was trying to help the guys as much as I can,” Omenihu revealed, “because the core of that defense as far as the scheme, I remembered, and I know. I wanted to help as much as I could.”

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Omenihu will likely miss a significant portion of the 2024 season recovering from his untimely injury. When he does return, he knows the Chiefs will have an even bigger target on their backs after winning their third Super Bowl in a five-year span.

“People are going to just hate the Chiefs even more,” the pass rusher predicted. “I think people get to the point where they’re tired of seeing us win — and that’s a good thing. I want to be that team that people are tired of seeing win.

“We’re not going to get tired of it because that means we’re winning. You’ve just got to bring your A-game every week.”