The Kansas City Chiefs have now released their third injury report of Week 16 ahead of their Sunday afternoon home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Friday offering shows that every player not currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list should be available to play.
As of Friday afternoon, the Chiefs have just three players on their Week 16 injury report in linebacker Ben Niemann (ankle), tackle Andrew Wylie (knee) and linebacker Anthony Hitchens (hand). All three players are listed as being full practice participants on Friday and none of the three received game status designations. Hitchens is a new addition to the report as of Friday, however.
The Chiefs do still have quite a few players out on the Reserve/COVID-19 list as of Friday afternoon. That list of players includes kicker Harrison Butker, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, safety Armani Watts, cornerback Rashad Fenton, linebacker Nick Bolton, tackle Lucas Niang, tackle/guard Kyle Long, tight end Blake Bell, tight end Travis Kelce, tackle Mike Remmers and punter Tommy Townsend.
It was reported earlier on Wednesday that the Chiefs won’t have Butker against the Steelers as he must miss the Sunday game against the Steelers because he is reportedly unvaccinated. Townsend isn’t likely to play on Sunday, either, with him going on the COVID-19 list on Friday. So, they will be without their usual kicker and punter against the Steelers.
The Chiefs have reportedly signed punter Joseph Charlton to the practice squad on Friday and he instantly becomes a candidate for elevation on Saturday as held for kicks for Chiefs kicker Elliott Fry when the two played together at South Carolina. Expect the Chiefs to make several roster elevations on Saturday with most being COVID-related.
