The Kansas City Chiefs have gotten their Christmas wish with the news that one star offensive weapon will be back for Week 16 and that another one could be on the way.
The Chiefs got word on Saturday that All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill has cleared COVID-19 protocols that will allow him to come off of the team’s reserve list. That was a big boost to an offense that was looking at life without its two major weapons in the last few days due to an outbreak of positive COVID tests on the team in the last week.
Even more than that, however, came word from NFL reporter Ian Rapoport that the team is bringing tight end Travis Kelce off of the reserve list in case he can clear protocols on Sunday afternoon as well. If not, he will be inactive.
Explaining this: Under new protocols, a fully vaccinated player can be cleared with two negative tests taken concurrently (not 24 hours apart). So if Kelce tests out on game day, he can play. If he doesn’t, he’s inactive and #Chiefs are down a roster spot. https://t.co/f5qQ3FpBbA https://t.co/yeaKbfYF4z
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 25, 2021
The Chiefs had as many as 18 players affected this week by COVID with a maximum of 16 players on the reserve list at once. From Chris Jones and Willie Gay on defense to Hill and Kelce on offense, the Chiefs found themselves down several starters coming into the team’s Sunday afternoon game against the Steelers. However, the Chiefs have gotten several defenders back even though they’re still missing several players.
The Chiefs are still without key specialists like punter Tommy Townsend and kicker Harrison Butker along with key performers like rookie linebacker Nick Bolton and right tackle Lucas Niang. That means that despite the good news, the Chiefs are not out of the woods by any measure when it comes to making up for the missing.