KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs expect to have cornerback Mansoor Delane on the field when they play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, less than a week after the sixth overall pick in the draft hurt his shoulder on the opening series of his NFL debut against the Denver Broncos.
Delane made good on his immense promise right away, picking off Denver quarterback Bo Nix on the first ball thrown his way. But he was tackled on the same shoulder that gave him trouble in the offseason, and he was soon in the locker room getting checked out.
Delane did not return to the game, which the Chiefs won 31-10. But he was back on the practice field Wednesday, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he anticipates the first cornerback taken in the draft to be available for a primetime matchup with Indianapolis.
“There's a pretty good chance he'll be back out there, yeah,” Reid said.
The Chiefs did just fine without him, holding Nix to 131 yards passing and the Broncos to 176 total yards. And they did it while also missing safety Chamarri Conner, who remained out of practice Wednesday because of a lingering knee injury.
The Chiefs also will be without linebacker Cooper McDonald, who is going on injured reserve after hurting his knee against Denver.
Most folks had their attention set squarely on Patrick Mahomes and the quarterback's surgically repaired left knee, and then on free-agent acquisition Kenneth Walker III, who outgained the Broncos by himself with 173 yards rushing and 18 receiving. And that means many people might have overlooked one of the best defensive performances of the opening week of the NFL season.
The Chiefs shut down the Broncos on Monday night even while there were 791 points scored across the league, matching the record for a Week 1 set in 2012 and the most since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
“We just wanted to start the season off the right way. Last year we didn't do that,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said. “It was just our mindset. The young guys came in and played well. We put a lot of pressure on those guys.”
The Chiefs completely rebuilt their secondary after trading All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams, watching fellow defensive back Jaylen Watson sign with them as well, then having safety Bryan Cook sign with Cincinnati. Delane was the biggest add to the backfield, but veteran safety Alohi Gilman and L'Jarius Sneed — back after a stint with Tennessee — both played well.
The big difference against Denver may have been up front, though, where rookies R Mason Thomas and Peter Woods impacted the game. Thomas had his first sack and both of them helped pressure Nix into getting rid of the ball earlier than he wanted.
“You can see the young guys' fight, day-in and day-out, their mentality,” Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said after the win over the Broncos. “With training camp, you can learn a lot about what type of team you're going to have. The fight during those hard days, those back-to-back days, those long-drive drills that Coach Reid gives, I've seen these guys battle through it. Not only battle through it but push themselves to the limit. It showed up on the field tonight.”
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Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane tries to keep his balance after intercepting a pass by Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane (5), with teammate cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace (30) looking, intercepts a pass by Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, not visible, during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
President Donald Trump is traveling to North Carolina for a campaign rally Wednesday evening with Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley as the former national party chairman tries to shore up his campaign against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.
The trip marks Trump’s first campaign rally since his unusual midterm convention in Dallas. The president, despite voter frustrations over the Iran war and his economic leadership, has promised dozens more trips ahead of Election Day. Trump's involvement creates a balancing act for Republicans like Whatley, who depend on the president’s core supporters to turn out while also trying to appeal to moderates and disaffected conservatives who are unhappy with the direction of the country.
Whatley was the president’s pick for the Senate race and, before that, Trump’s pick to lead the Republican National Committee before that. Republicans viewed him as a strong recruit to hold the seat being left open by Sen. Thom Tillis, who decided to retire after clashing with the president last year. But Whatley, who is making his first bid for public office, has trailed Cooper in fundraising in recent months and polling over the summer showed Cooper with at least a slight lead.
Trump has acknowledged the challenging landscape but believes his presence will be a clear boost.
“In North Carolina, you have a little more difficult case, because people don’t quite get it, but they’re going to find out,” Trump said during his keynote speech in Dallas.
Democrats have not won a Senate contest in the state since 2008, and Trump has carried North Carolina three times since. The seat is critical to Democrats' effort to flip control of the Senate. Cooper was perhaps Democrats’ best recruit this cycle, having never lost a statewide race in North Carolina through four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor.
Republican pollster Paul Shumaker, who worked on Tillis’s and North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s campaigns, said Trump will energize Republicans who may not be as excited about the campaign as Democrats are. But he noted that registered Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina are split about evenly, while independent voters outnumber both. That cohort of more than 3.5 million voters, he said, is more concerned about the economy, an issue where Trump is weaker than he was in 2024, than with crime or immigration, issues where North Carolina Republicans might still have an advantage over Democrats.
“They see the White House more focused on everything but the economy,” Shumaker said. “So that narrative has to change to give them a path here in North Carolina.”
Whatley, for his part, has not distanced himself from Trump. During a brief speech in Dallas, he praised Trump’s agenda, especially the tax cuts included in his “big beautiful bill” last year. But instead of lavishing praise on the president himself, he spent most of his time unloading on Cooper, calling him soft on crime and bad for North Carolinians’ wallets.
“Under Roy Cooper’s reign, North Carolina became the most expensive state in the nation for health care costs,” he said.
It was part of his effort to counter the former governor’s emphasis on the economy under Trump, especially gas and grocery prices. But Whatley's claim also hinges on a Forbes study whose methodology has been questioned by North Carolina health insurance analysts and the Republican state auditor, among others.
Cooper’s campaign pushed back against Whatley’s criticisms and noted that the Republican has faced scrutiny for recently having a convicted sex offender offer the opening prayer at one of his campaign events.
Whatley, meanwhile, is leaning heavily on Trump and national Republican donors to reach voters on TV and online. According to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, total Republican spending on the contest has topped $50 million, while Democrats have spent almost $35.2 million, with Trump's MAGA Inc. and other conservative PACs accounting for the overall Republican advantage.
Cooper has no public events Wednesday, but the state Democratic Party sought to keep the spotlight on Trump, Whatley and inflation. In a morning news conference, speakers noted the Republican nominee's oil and gas investments as the energy sector amasses profits while the Iran war drives up fuel costs. Whatley's personal financial disclosures to the Senate show investments in ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and other energy firms. A former energy lobbyist, Whatley backs Trump's actions in Iran.
“Why would Whatley back a war that is driving up prices for North Carolina families at a time when it’s already too hard for us to get by?” state Sen. Woodson Bradley, D-Charlotte, asked. “He’s already shown us everything we need to know.”
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is running for U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church in Goldsboro, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Shannon Airport, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Shannon, Ireland. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Michael Whatley, North Carolina senatorial candidate, greets delegates as he takes the stage at the Republican convention in Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
