The Super Eagles star was taken off for Demarai Gray in the 39th minute of the 1-1 draw against Norwich on Saturday at the KingPower Stadium.
His substitution came after he failed to obey the Fairplay rules. Midway through the first half, Norwich put the ball out of play with Buendia down injured.
On resumption, Iheanacho was given the ball to give back to the Norwich players, but the Super Eagles star decided to play on by dribbling towards the Canaries goal until he was tackled by Christoph Zimmermann.
This angered the Norwich players who surrounded the 23-year-old with Cantwell booked for holding his throat. Eventually, James Maddison put the ball out for a Norwich throw, but Rodgers decided to take out Iheanacho minutes after.
Speaking to Leicester Mercury after the match, the former Liverpool manager questioned Iheanacho’s actions but said the substitution was not down to the incident.
“He totally misread that situation. The ball should go back. Thankfully nothing came of that.
“Most times the ball will be given back. It led to the situation which might have led to a red card which would have been an awkward one as well.
“They were disappointed that he wanted to try to get in and score. Young Kels, I’m not sure what he was thinking to be honest. He’s an honest boy. He’s clearly got kicked. Thankfully it was sorted out and nothing else happened.
On the substitution, Rodgers revealed he could have waited till half-time, but he decided to make the change immediately because he wants to switch to a 4-3-3 formation.
“It was one where we wanted to go to 4-3-3 and when we moved him out to the side, he’s not a natural winger, he’s not one who can play on that outside,” said Rodgers.
“So I can either leave it and wait until half-time or make the change when I did. And then make the other change on half-time. It was purely a tactical one.
“He was fine. He was disappointed because he’s been terrific for us in the past few games. He understands, he knows it was nothing personal, just the flow of the game needed to change.
The draw puts Leicester 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, but seven points ahead of Man City who play Arsenal on Sunday.
