KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs have multiple players they can turn to as their third cornerback Sunday against the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium.

It's evident they aren’t thrilled by any of the options for an extra corner passing situations alongside starters Marcus Peters and Steven Nelson. Phillip Gaines, Terrance Mitchell and Kenneth Acker all have been pulled from the lineup this season as the Chiefs search for consistency at an important position.

Gaines took his turn in in the loss Sunday to the New York Giants and was beaten for a long gain on the game’s most important play. Giants wide receiver Roger Lewis beat Gaines for a 34-yard gain on a fourth-down play in overtime. The pass gave the Giants the ball at the Kansas City 2 and set up the winning field goal.

Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said the Chiefs selected Gaines as their third corner for the Giants game at the end of the practice week and suggested they would make this week’s selection at a similar time.

“It wasn’t driven by who the Giants were playing or anything like that," Sutton said. “It was simply that we’re trying to improve each position and so we thought last week that was the best decision we could make."

Mitchell started the first seven games in place of Nelson, who then was on the injured reserve list. Mitchell gave up a lot of plays, but made a few himself. He had two interceptions in a September game against the Chargers.

Mitchell was benched upon Nelson’s return in a Week 8 game against the Broncos and has played only six defensive snaps since.

Gaines was the nickelback for the season’s first seven games and also lost his regular role when Nelson returned against the Broncos. He didn’t play on defense for two weeks until he resurfaced against the Giants.

Acker played a total of 11 defensive snaps in the first seven games before abruptly becoming the starter against the Broncos. He was the third cornerback the next week against the Cowboys, but played just three defensive snaps against the Giants.

So the Chiefs will be watching carefully at practice this week.

“None of these are permanent," Sutton said of any cornerback lineup change. “You’ve got to continue to show you’re the right guy. If you don’t, we’ve got to continue to keep going. We’re trying to cultivate as many people as we can."