The Kansas City Chiefs have made one roster move and elevated two practice squad players for Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers.
In an expected move, Willie Gay Jr. was officially activated to the 53-man roster following his four-game suspension. The team preemptively waived CB Dicaprio Bootle from the 53-man roster on Monday in order to free a roster space for the third-year linebacker.
Bootle will be called back up to the 53-man roster from the practice squad via standard elevation. This is his last practice squad elevation where the team won’t risk losing him on waivers. It’s worth noting that Bootle was the player who came in for Jaylen Watson when he was shaken up on a play during last week’s game. With Rashad Fenton still absent, he looks to be the first player off the bench at the cornerback position.
Joining Bootle this week is a familiar face in WR Marcus Kemp. The former 2017 undrafted free agent out of Hawaii has been a longtime special teams ace for the team and just recently rejoined them on the practice squad. This will be his first time elevated to the game-day roster this season.
We have activated Practice Squad players CB Dicaprio Bootle and WR Marcus Kemp via Standard Elevation.
We have activated LB Willie Gay to the 53-man roster. pic.twitter.com/oZOFay7ukq
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 22, 2022
The most notable thing here isn’t the moves the Chiefs made, but it’s the move they didn’t make. For the second consecutive week, rookie CB Trent McDuffie was not activated from injured reserve despite practicing all week. He was closer to making his return from a hamstring injury this week, but the team decided to play it safe instead of risking reinjury. With the Week 8 bye, McDuffie won’t make his return until Week 9 when the team faces the Tennessee Titans on “Sunday Night Football.”
