Several injured players for the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are expected to be healthy for Super Bowl LV.
Chiefs running back Le’Veon Bell (knee) and wide receiver Sammy Watkins (calf), as well as the Bucs duo of wide receiver Antonio Brown (knee) and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) are all expected to be ready for Feb. 7, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Each missed their team’s championship game victories on Sunday.
Watkins played in 10 games for the Chiefs in the regular season. He was out earlier in the season with a sore hamstring and later with a calf injury. He did not play in either of the Chiefs’ postseason games. Watkins finished the regular season fifth on the Chiefs with 37 catches for 421 yards and two touchdowns.
Bell joined the Chiefs in October after he was released from the New York Jets. He had a lesser impact for the Chiefs than was anticipated when he arrived. After the Chiefs lost Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a stretch, they passed over Bell and made Darrel Williams their featured back in a Week 16 game against the Falcons and in the divisional round playoff game against the Browns. Bell during the regular season rushed for 254 yards in nine games for the Chiefs.
Winfield popped up on the Buccaneers’ injury report late last week as he failed to practice Friday. The rookie tested the ankle out in pre-game warmups, but it was deemed that he would not be able to play in the team’s NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers.
Brown suffered a knee injury against the New Orleans Saints and played just a handful of snaps in the second half of the Bucs’ divisional round win. He did not take part in practice Thursday and was not present for Wednesday’s walk-through. Though the team had planned for Brown to be a game-time decision, he was ruled out on Friday. Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians explained that Brown “wasn’t as close as we’d hoped, so we’ll get him ready for the next one.”
Information from ESPN’s Adam Teicher was used in this report.