Travis Kelce will play against Texans, Chris Jones will not

The Kansas City Chiefs have released their inactives list for Sunday’s Divisional round game against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. Tight end Travis Kelce will play, but defensive tackle Chris Jones will not.

Kelce was listed as questionable on Friday’s final injury report. He was first reported to be dealing with a knee injury that head coach Andy Reid has described as a “bruise.” But on Sunday morning, reports began surfacing that while Kelce was likely to play, he is suffering from pain in the IT band.

The IT band — short for Iliotibial band — is a tendon that runs down the outside of the leg. It can become inflamed and irritated as it moves across other structures in the leg. Surgery is rarely required.

Jones was also listed as questionable on Friday with a calf injury. NFL Network reporter James Palmer shed some light on Jones’ injury in a Sunday morning tweet.

But before the inactives list was released, Palmer gave us a clue that Jones would not play.

Cornerback Morris Claiborne had already been listed as out on Friday’s report, so his presence on the inactive list is no surprise. Claiborne missed the final three games of the regular season with a shoulder injury. The injury report still lists that shoulder injury — indicating that Claiborne continues to get treatment for it — but according to Andy Reid on Friday, Claiborne’s missed practices this week have been for undisclosed personal reasons.

It’s not unusual for reserve offensive tackle Jackson Barton and third backup quarterback Chad Henne to be inactive. However, starting left guard Andrew Wylie is a surprise. He has missed time with an ankle injury, but practiced fully this week. He will have to be considered a healthy scratch. It’s presumed that Stefen Wisniewski will start in his place.

Linebacker Darron Lee is also a healthy scratch for the game. It is the first time this season he has been inactive.

For the Texans, wide receiver Will Fuller is not on their inactive list — and is expected to play.

On Friday, the Texans had seven players — including Fuller — listed as questionable on their injury report. Of the remaining six, cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Kellon Crossen, wide receiver Kenny Stills and tight end Darren Fells will all play.