Only five months ago, Jake Briningstool was a serious topic of conversation when discussing the Kansas City Chiefs. The rookie tight end turned the heads of Andy Reid's coaching staff during offseason training activities and rookie minicamp, and the planetary alignment of conditions at tight end made for an interesting talking point.
Fifteen weeks into the regular season, the Briningstool discussion is back on the table for Chiefs Kingdom.
The Chiefs opened the 21-day practice window for Briningstool and veteran safety Nazeeh Johnson on Wednesday, part of a series of roster moves that will prepare the team for the final three weeks of a now-meaningless season. The Chiefs were knocked out of the postseason picture by the L.A. Chargers in Week 15, and Patrick Mahomes was lost to an ACL injury. Those two seismic developments have shifted roster priorities with three games remaining.
What does a 21-day window mean for Briningstool and the Chiefs?
When the Chiefs designated Briningstool and Johnson to return from injured reserve, it gave them a full three-week window within which they could assess both players without having to open up a spot on the active roster. Briningstool and Johnson are both free to practice and participate in every way, except, of course, on game days.
This gives the Chiefs a real chance to flirt with younger players with three games left and nothing to play for in 2025. Both Briningstool and Johnson went on IR for a reason, but the team has provided zero injury updates on either, so it's hard to know if they're still getting healthy or if they've just been stashed away this entire time.
In either case, the Chiefs now have 21 days to watch them in practice and, at some point, make a choice to activate them to the roster so they can play in a game or revert them back to IR.
What happened to Jake Briningstool in the first place?
Briningstool earned rave reviews in early rookie minicamp following his signing with the Chiefs following the 2025 NFL Draft. The former Clemson star went unselected, but was a high-profile rookie free agent, and the Chiefs were considered fortunate to have landed him.
On the fifth day of training camp in St. Joseph, Briningstool was seen walking with a sleeve on his left leg. The Chiefs would later explain that he was sidelined with a hamstring injury, and the issue never went away. After preseason predictions that the rookie would force his way into the pecking order at a crowded position for '25, the Chiefs shelved him for the long haul a month later by placing him on injured reserve to start the year.
What makes Briningstool's late-season appearance so important?
It's impossible to know if the emergence of Briningstool late in the season is really important, but the potential there is hard to ignore.
Briningstool is an undrafted prospect who sat most of his rookie season on IR. No one should forget that and run too far with projections or hopes. That said, the Chiefs are at an interesting juncture at the position. Travis Kelce could retire following the season. Robert Tonyan will be a free agent. That leaves only veteran Noah Gray and Jared Wiley as the TEs under contract for 2026—the latter of which is still a complete unknown even after two years in the NFL.
Some mock drafts have the Chiefs going tight end in the first round (Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq is the pick every time, if so), which shows just how much starting reps are up for grabs in K.C. Will the Chiefs use a premium asset to plug a potential hole? Will they give Briningstool a chance to vie for snaps with others already in house?
When a scenario is this open-ended, evaluation is all the more important, which is why Briningstool's ability to enter the picture with three games left could be a real game-changer for the team's plans at the position.