"Quarterback Matt Cassel, the Chiefs' starter for their first nine games, was in the locker room Friday and spoke briefly to reporters. He remained disappointed, nearly two weeks after suffering a broken hand, that his season was finished. He was placed on injured reserve Monday.

"You don't get to continue to go out there and play and all that," he said, "and it's such an abrupt injury and a thing that you never anticipate. So that's the hard part about it."

Wearing a black cast on his right hand, Cassel said he didn't know how long his recovery would be. Still, he said he'd spend much of his time at the team facility.

"You try to get a role, somehow, some way and continue to contribute to the team and contribute to Tyler and those guys and whoever's out there playing," he said."