Josh Gordon expected to be promoted to Chiefs active roster for Week 5

The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to promote Josh Gordon to the active roster in time for Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills, per a report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport. The Chiefs just signed the free agent wide receiver last week to the practice squad.

Everything is happening pretty quickly for Gordon in Kansas City, which is a very good sign for the Chiefs and the player given the uncertainty and recent history involved. Gordon was just reinstated to even try to play again in the National Football League after more than a year away due to yet another long suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Given Gordon’s time away from the game, the need to get into shape, and the onboarding with a new team’s personnel, verbiage and so forth, no one was quite sure what Gordon’s timeline would be to being a productive member of the roster. Now it seems like things are going to happen very, very fast.

The Chiefs could promote Josh Gordon to the roster for Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills.

Head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and others have been nothing but positive about the acquisition and what they’ve seen so far from Gordon. What is clear is that he is immediately one of the team’s biggest pass catchers and occupies a potentially important spot as a reliable, physical target who must be respected by opposing defenses who get too keyed in on Travis Kelce at tight end or Tyreek Hill at wide receiver.

While the report is positive, it’s also important to note that due to injuries and suspensions, Gordon has played a total of 33 games since the end of the 2013 season—yes, that’s 2013. Gordon’s talent has always been there, but availability has been the issue. Can Kansas City create a different atmosphere around him? That remains to be seen.