As the Kansas City Chiefs continued their preparations to visit the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC Championship game this Sunday afternoon, the team announced through its official X account that it was making two roster moves.
First, it placed defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi on its Reserve/Injured (injured reserve) list. Then the team filled Nnadi’s spot on the active roster by activating linebacker Darius Harris from its practice squad.
We have signed Practice Squad player LB Darius Harris to an active roster contract.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 26, 2024
We have placed DT Derrick Nnadi on reserve/injured. pic.twitter.com/25HQd1od1M
After starting all 17 games of the regular season (and the Wild Card game against the Miami Dolphins), Nnadi will now miss the rest of the season; players on Reserve/Injured lists must miss at least four games before they can be active for another game in the same season. Nnadi missed the Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills with a triceps injury and had already been declared out for Sunday’s game in Baltimore.
In Nnadi’s absence last Sunday, the Chiefs elevated defensive tackles Mike Pennel and Matt Dickerson from the practice squad.
The 28-year-old Harris spent three seasons with the Chiefs (appearing in all 17 games of 2022) before the team declined to offer him a Restricted Free Agent contract. He ended up on the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad, from which the Chiefs poached him on October 31. He appeared in five games — playing only on special teams — before being waived (and signed to the practice squad) in mid-December.
Harris’ activation suggests the team is concerned that linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (who was listed as questionable with a neck injury for the AFC Championship) will not be ready to play. If Harris is active for Sunday’s game, he will likely be used on special teams. That would open the way for second-year linebacker Jack Cochrane to get some defensive snaps behind Leo Chenal.