KC Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals Week 17 Injuries and Inactives: Who's In, Who's Out?

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action for another holiday game, this time taking the field on New Year's Eve against a conference rival.

Coming to town are the Cincinnati Bengals, who sit at 8-7 through 15 games and are in desperate need of a win in Week 17. A victory boosts their playoff chances significantly. Even without quarterback Joe Burrow leading the way, Zac Taylor's squad remains feisty late in the season.

On the other side of the field, Andy Reid's Kansas City bunch is scuffling a bit. At 9-6, the AFC West can be clinched with a win but the Chiefs have still fallen short of expectations in 2023. The offense isn't what it used to be, struggling at times and seeing inconsistent results. The home team will aim for a bounce-back type of game on Sunday.

Neither team is 100% healthy, as is expected late in a grueling NFL season. With that said, both sides are getting some key players in the lineup despite dealing with nagging injuries. In a playoff-level atmosphere, the Chiefs and Bengals are certainly treating it like a do-or-die game.

Ahead of their outing back at home, the Chiefs' list of inactive players has been released. Here's who won't suit up for Kansas City:

WR Kadarius Toney
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
CB Nic Jones
DE BJ Thompson
OT Donovan Smith
DT Neil Farrell
DE Malik Herring

The Chiefs ruled wide receiver Kadarius Toney and left tackle Donovan Smith out in advance of Sunday's game. That marks the second game in a row missed for the former with a hip injury and the fourth in a row for the latter with a neck stinger. Elsewhere, the Kansas City running back stable had some uncertainty as Clyde Edwards-Helaire was sick and Isiah Pacheco was in concussion protocol during the week. Only one is active on Sunday, as Edwards-Helaire didn't recover in time. The silver lining for the Chiefs is that Pacheco cleared protocol on Saturday. Halfback Keaontay Ingram, who was elevated from the practice squad, will take Edwards-Helaire's place.

Two big-time pieces of injury news for the Chiefs pertain to wideout Mecole Hardman and cornerback L'Jarius Sneed. On offense, Hardman was activated off the injured reserve list on Saturday and will make his return from a thumb injury. Sneed didn't practice during the week with a calf strain but was put through a series of pregame warmups, paving the way for him to play in Week 17 anyway. The star defensive back won't be fully healthy, but simply being on the field should be a huge boost for Kansas City's secondary.

The Bengals' inactives have also been released:

RB Chris Evans
CB Jalen Davis
OL Trey Hill
OL D'Ante Smith
DT Travis Bell

It was a relatively quiet week on the injury front for Cincinnati outside of wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. The Pro Bowl wideout returned to practice this week and was a limited participant on Thursday and Friday. He, like Sneed, will attempt to play through the pain in Week 17. Chase is nursing a separated shoulder that saw him miss Week 16's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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