ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The last player other than Justin Houston and Tamba Hali to lead the Kansas City Chiefs in sacks was Jared Allen, and he hasn’t played for the Chiefs since 2007. Since then, either Houston or Hali has been the team's top pass-rusher. It’s been years since the Chiefs have had to get after an opposing quarterback without either player.

But with the first preseason game rapidly approaching, neither player has joined them for a training camp practice. Each is rehabbing from offseason knee surgery, leaving the Chiefs to figure out how to mount a pass rush without them.

They’re finding it’s not simple.

“Those are two unique rushers,’’ defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said, “and you can't just go out and grab guys and say, ‘Hey, you’re just this guy.’’’

Dee Ford and Frank Zombo are, for now at least, the starting outside linebackers. Ford, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in 2014, had a three-sack game last year against the San Diego Chargers. Zombo had three sacks for the Chiefs last year, one less than his career high with the Green Bay Packers in 2010.

Ford is still developing, having played little until late last season, when Houston’s knee injury knocked him out of the lineup. The Chiefs have signed Zombo to three different contracts since he arrived in 2013 because they value him as a backup.

Neither one has been as productive as the players they’re replacing.

“We all know every guy has different skill level and different things they do better than the next guy,’’ Sutton said. “So you tilt or move your defense in that direction. There's a lot of different ways you can do that. Sometimes you just change up what you're doing a little bit. I think we'll be fine, and we're looking forward to seeing where we go."

The Chiefs will lean on others for help. Defensive linemen Jaye Howard (5.5 sacks) and Allen Bailey (4.5) helped last season. Nose tackle Dontari Poe was a productive pass-rusher earlier in his career, and rookie lineman Chris Jones has shown potential. Safety Ron Parker has been an effective blitzer; he had five sacks last year.

The Chiefs will require a big pass-rush effort from a lot of players as long as their two top rushers are out.

“Sacks are popular, and we take as many as we can get,’’ Sutton said. “But you can affect the quarterback by just rushing hard. That's one of the things that Justin and Tamba do that I think is underappreciated. To collapse the pocket sometimes without getting a sack or getting a hit on the quarterback. All that affects how [the quarterback] plays, what he sees, and how long he can look.”