Kansas City Chiefs fans rejoice.
Tyrann Mathieu entered Sunday with a questionable game status designation after suffering a concussion in the divisional round against the Buffalo Bills. As of Saturday night, his status was very much so still up in the air.
With three hours to go until kickoff, the Chiefs announced that they had removed Mathieu’s game status designation and that he would play in the AFC championship game. That suggests that he has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocols and is cleared to return to play by team doctors and an independent neurologist. Take a look:
We have removed the injury designation for S Tyrann Mathieu. He will play in today’s game. pic.twitter.com/Rw2Pq0bi9b
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 30, 2022
Mathieu is a defensive leader for Kansas City and a huge part of what they do on defense. His coaches and teammates revere his on-field impact and it was sorely missed against the Bills a week ago. Now, he’ll be out on the field to help thwart a high-powered passing attack from the Cincinnati Bengals. Having him on the field and healthy will be a huge boost for the defense heading into the most important game of the season. It very well could be the difference between a third consecutive trip to the Super Bowl or missing out on the big game for the first time in the past two years.
