Steelers vs. Chiefs Injury Report: Clyde Edwards-Helaire Out, Najee Harris Questionable, More Playoff Injuries
Joe Sargent/Getty Images. Pictured: Najee Harris
With the NFL regular season in the rearview mirror, 12 of 14 playoff teams are gearing up for what should be a crazy Wild Card Weekend.
Steelers (7)-Chiefs (2) will wrap up the three-game slate on Sunday. The Chiefs finished 12-5 after winning the AFC West but surrendered the top seed in the AFC to the Titans via the tiebreaker. They will have home-field advantage for this contest. The Steelers, who finished 9-7-1, eked out the last of three wild-card spots after an overtime win over the Ravens last Sunday.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Temperatures are projected to hover around freezing with gentle winds in the five to 10 mph range.
The final injury report of the week was released on Friday, with five players listed on the Steelers' side and nine players listed on the Chiefs' side (zero additions for either squad).
Steelers vs. Chiefs Injury Report
Not sure what the above abbreviations mean? Click here to skip to our glossary below.
Latest on Steelers-Chiefs Injuries
Friday Update
The Friday injury report for the Steelers was impeccably clean with zero new additions and full participation across the board.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (pectoral/right shoulder) was a full participant once again, as were the other four players on the report. Cornerback Arthur Maulet (concussion) was upgraded from limited to full, while running back Najee Harris (elbow) and right guard Trai Turner (knee), who was added Thursday, were upgraded from non-participants to full participants today. Harris is battling an elbow injury that briefly knocked him out of Week 18. He was expected to miss practice earlier this week and return today. Harris is officially questionable heading into Sunday's game against the Chiefs.
The Friday injury report for the Chiefs brought few new surprises. The only player whose status changed day-over-day was receiver Tyreek Hill (heel), who was upgraded from a limited participant to a full participant. Hill was banged up during the Chiefs' win over the Broncos. Meanwhile, running back Darrel Williams (toe) remained limited and is questionable for Sunday while Clyde Edwards-Helaire (shoulder) was a non-participant once again and has been officially ruled out. Edwards-Helaire has been battling a shoulder injury for weeks which held him out of the last two games.
The only other noteworthy mention is tight end Travis Kelce (hip), who was a full participant for the third practice in a row and should be fine come Sunday. Kelce was also banged up last week.
Thursday Update
The Thursday injury report for the Steelers listed the four players from Wednesday with one new addition.
Right guard Trai Turner (knee) was added today as a non-participant in Thursday's practice. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (pectoral/right shoulder) was upgraded to a full participant, suggesting yesterday's limited practice was not cause for concern.
The other three players' statuses remained the same, including running back Najee Harris (elbow). Harris was a DNP for the second day in a row, which could be cause for concern. He was injured early in Week 18 against the Ravens which forced him to miss some time during the game. He was able to return to the game but will probably need to log at least a limited practice tomorrow to give him a decent chance at playing on Sunday.
The Thursday injury report for the Chiefs listed the same nine players as Wednesday.
Noteworthy changes included running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (shoulder) being downgraded from limited to a non-participant and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (heel) being downgraded from full to limited. Hill was banged up during the Chiefs' win over the Broncos while Edwards-Helaire has been battling a shoulder injury for weeks which held him out of the last two games. Both of these situations are worth monitoring heading into Sunday.
Tight end Travis Kelce (hip), who was also banged up last week, practiced in full once again, while running back Darrel Williams (toe) was limited for the second day in a row, which could be an issue if Edwards-Helaire is a no-go.
Wednesday Update
The Wednesday injury report for the Steelers listed four players total — three offensive players and one defensive player.
Headlining the news is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (pectoral/right shoulder), who is a frequent fixture on the Steelers' weekly injury reports. The 39-year-old signal-caller was a limited participant today while dealing with a chest and shoulder injury on his throwing side that has lingered for the entire year.
He frequently misses, or is limited in, the team's first practice of the week, so this comes as no surprise. He sat out just one game this year after landing on the COVID-19/reserve list and has started the other 16.
Among the other Pittsburgh players listed were running back Najee Harris (elbow), left tackle Dan Moore Jr. (ankle) and cornerback Arthur Maulet (concussion). Harris is the most prominent and concerning name on this list as a non-participant today. The rookie running back was injured early in Week 18 against the Ravens which forced him to miss some time during the game. He was able to return to the game, which is a good sign for his availability against the Chiefs.
Moore missed Week 18 with an ankle injury and was a full participant today, which suggests he is trending towards returning. He appeared in all 16 games prior to last week. Maulet was limited in practice today after sustaining a concussion in a helmet-to-helmet collision with backup Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley last week.
The Wednesday injury report for the Chiefs was significant with nine players total — six offensive players and three defensive players.
The Kansas City offensive players listed were tight end Travis Kelce (hip), wide receiver Tyreek Hill (heel), running backs Darrell Williams (toe) and Clyde Edwards-Helaire (shoulder), left tackle Orlando Brown (calf) and right tackle Andrew Wylie (glute).
Kelce, Hill and Williams were all banged up during the Chiefs' win over the Broncos, while Edwards-Helaire has been battling a shoulder injury for weeks which held him out of the last two games.
Brown, who is dealing with a calf injury, is a frequent mention on the injury report, but the three-time Pro Bowl lineman missed just one game this season. Wylie has appeared in 13 games and is listed with a glute injury. All were full participants except for the running backs, both of which were limited.
The Kansas City defensive players listed were strong safety Tyrann Mathieu (knee), cornerback L'Jarius Sneed (knee) and linebacker Willie Gay (wrist). Three-time first-team All-Pro Mathieu is the most prominent on this list. Sneed has been on the injury report for the past few weeks with a knee injury but has practiced nonetheless. He has appeared in 15 games this year while Gay has appeared in 12. All three were full participants today.
NFL Injury Report Glossary
For Daily Practice Statuses
- DNP: Acronym for "did not participate" in practice that day.
- LP: Acronym for "limited participation" in practice that day.
- FP: Acronym for "full participation" in practice that day.
- (-): Not listed.
For Game Statuses
- Out: Will not play this week.
- Doubtful: Unlikely to play this week.
- Questionable: Not certain to play this week.
- (-): Not listed (in most cases means "active").
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