Battle, who was working with the starters because of Eric Warfield’s legal problems, was injured during a minicamp practice Saturday.

“He’s going to be operated on,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “He popped his Achilles’ tendon, and he’s lost for the year.”

Battle, a third-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 2003, has played in 26 games for the Chiefs. He made one start last season, as a fifth defensive back.

Vermeil put Battle at the top of the depth chart for the team’s latest minicamp because the Chiefs expect the NFL to suspend Warfield for violating the league’s drug and alcohol policy. Warfield pleaded no contest in January to one count of driving under the influence in Johnson County, Kan.