An equipment container that contained some of the Chiefs' shoulder pads, helmets and footballs was not unloaded Saturday and instead accidentally made its way to Newark, New Jersey, where it now is being rushed back to Boston in time for Sunday's 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff between Kansas City and the New England Patriots, per league sources.
It held the bags of roughly 35 players, according to a source.
Kansas City is responsible, not the Patriots or the league. The Chiefs did not take the equipment off the plane. "I never heard that before," said one source.
The detoured equipment is expected to arrive between 3 and 3:30 p.m. ET, in time for Sunday's kickoff. If the Chiefs didn't have the equipment by the time the game started they would have to forfeit, per a source.
How much it impacts certain players who could be missing helmets or shoulder pads in warm-ups is uncertain. But the Chiefs now are doing what they can to rectify the situation.