The Kansas City Chiefs continue to trend in the right direction when it comes to their COVID-19 situation. A trio of players including rookie LB Nick Bolton, RT Lucas Niang and OL Kyle Long each appear to have cleared the NFL’s COVID protocols. All three were listed as activated by the team in their reported transactions on Monday.
Bolton and Niang were technically activated on Saturday in hopes they could test out of the protocols on Sunday, but they were ultimately ruled out for the game. Long formally saw activation from the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday per the NFL’s official personnel notice.
The #Chiefs have activated LB Nick Bolton, OL Kyle Long and RT Lucas Niang from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. They released P Joseph Charlton from the practice squad and restored WR Gehrig Dieter to the practice squad.
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) December 27, 2021
In addition to the activations for the 53-man roster, the team restored WR Gehrig Dieter to the practice squad. Dieter was one of three practice squad players dealing with COVID-19. In a corresponding move, the team released P Joseph Charlton from the practice squad.
The following players still remain on the Reserve/COVID-19 list:
- CB Rashad Fenton
- DB Armani Watts
- K Harrison Butker
- P Tommy Townsend
- LB Darius Harris (PS)
- WR Daurice Fountain (PS)
Travis Kelce was technically among the players activated on Saturday, but he’s yet to formally clear the NFL’s COVID protocols to our knowledge. He is still tracking to be cleared for Week 17 and that could come any day now. The Chiefs don’t resume practice until Wednesday.
On a day where the NFL saw a record-high number of players placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Chiefs didn’t have any players added to the list. It signals their outbreak is in the past and that the team shouldn’t have anything more than isolated cases moving forward.
