KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was activated Saturday by the Kansas City Chiefs off the reserve/COVID-19 list and will play in Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs also moved tight end Travis Kelce and two other players — linebacker Nick Bolton and offensive tackle Lucas Niang — to their active roster in the hope they can clear the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols in time to take on the Steelers in a pivotal game.
The Chiefs will be without at least five players on Sunday who will remain on their COVID-19 list. Kicker Harrison Butker and punter Tommy Townsend are among that group. The Chiefs signed Elliott Fry as their kicker and promoted Townsend’s brother Johnny from their practice squad to punt for them against the Steelers.
Neither Hill, who leads the Chiefs in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns, nor Kelce practiced all week. But they participated in team meetings virtually and quarterback Patrick Mahomes said it wouldn’t be a problem for them to play.
“Those guys have gotten a lot of reps with me,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, it’s a really complex defense that we’re facing, and they’ve played it a couple times even before I was here. So for me, as long as they’re healthy and they’re safe and they’ve passed the protocols and they’re back, we’ll throw them right back into the offense. They’ll be able to take on the roles that they’ve always had.”