The Kansas City Chiefs have made a pair of practice squad elevations ahead of their AFC divisional round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to the NFL’s personnel notice for Friday, the Chiefs have used a standard elevation on both practice squad WR Marcus Kemp and C Austin Reiter. Practice squad elevations reset during postseason play, so even though Kemp had exhausted his regular-season elevations, he’s permitted to be elevated and play.
With WR Mecole Hardman ruled out of the game, it makes plenty of sense for the Chiefs to elevate Kemp. The team has mostly gone with six receivers active on gameday. Kemp is one of the team’s longest-tenured special teams players and likely has the greatest depth of knowledge when it comes to the offensive playbook should he be needed to step in.
As for Austin Reiter, his elevation is an interesting one. The Chiefs did not have any interior offensive linemen end up on the injury report during the practice week. Reiter, however, is the team’s most battle-tested offensive lineman when it comes to the playoffs. Reiter was the Chiefs’ starting center throughout the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Super Bowl runs for Kansas City.
Some other housekeeping notes: The Chiefs did not activate either RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and TE Jody Fortson from injured reserve. Both players were designated to return this week, but as Andy Reid suggested on Thursday, neither player was activated for the AFC divisional round.
