Chiefs at Cardinals Inactives: Who's In, Who's Out?
As the Kansas City Chiefs head into their season-opening contest against the Arizona Cardinals, they'll be doing so with revenge on their mind.
Earlier this year, Andy Reid's bunch suffered a heartbreaking AFC Championship Game loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. That cut Kansas City's aspirations of winning the Super Bowl short, and it sent the franchise into a tumultuous offseason filled with roster changes via trade, free agency and the 2022 NFL Draft alike. After a training camp and preseason that created plenty of internal competition, the club's initial depth chart projects to be one of its better ones from top to bottom in recent years.
With a new season comes new challenges and opportunities, and Week 1 is no different. The Chiefs hit the road for their first game of the 2022 campaign and will later return to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for their Week 2 bout against the Los Angeles Chargers. Before that, however, they're tasked with taking down a Cardinals team that got off to one of the hottest starts in the NFL a season ago. Both teams are prepared, but one is in a much better place health-wise than the other.
Ahead of their opening week matchup in the desert, the Chiefs' list of inactive players has been released:
The Chiefs' injury report throughout the week did feature the likes of safety Deon Bush (foot), defensive end Malik Herring (abdomen), guard Trey Smith (shoulder), wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), offensive lineman Darian Kinnard (elbow) and defensive end Frank Clark (illness) but on Friday, some positive updates came. Clark was the only member of the report to have a shadow of a doubt cast upon his health status for Sunday, as the pass-rusher was recovering from dehydration symptoms stemming from COVID-19. Reid said Clark was set to play barring a setback, though, and the 29-year-old is active on Sunday.
Of those on the inactives list, running back Ronald Jones is perhaps the biggest name to mention. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back battled throughout camp and the preseason to narrowly avoid final roster cuts, but Kansas City is rolling with just three running backs on Sunday's active group. Another name of note is Daurice Fountain, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday but won't be active for game time.
The Cardinals' inactives have also been released:
On Friday, Arizona ruled out the trio of wide receiver Rondale Moore, cornerback Trayvon Mullen and offensive lineman Cody Ford. Things were looking up at the time for pass-rusher Markus Golden and tight end Zach Ertz possibly being able to play once Sunday rolled around, although defensive lineman J.J. Watt's prospects for playing through his calf injury weren't looking as great. Cornerback Byron Murphy and offensive lineman Justin Pugh were other notable question marks. Every other notable except Watt and Pugh is active, with the likes of the aforementioned others and Keaontay Ingram, Myjai Sanders and Trey McBride being listed as inactive.
