Chiefs-Bengals inactives: Tyrann Mathieu and Darrel Williams will play

The Kansas City Chiefs have released their list of inactive players for Sunday’s AFC Championship against the Cincinnati Bengals. Safety Tyrann Mathieu (concussion) and running back Darrel Williams (toe) will both dress for the game.

In Friday’s final injury report, both Mathieu and Williams had been listed with questionable game status.

Mathieu suffered a concussion early in last Sunday’s Divisional round game against the Buffalo Bills. He missed Wednesday’s practice but was listed as a full participant on both Thursday and Friday. Late on Sunday morning, the Chiefs announced that Mathieu had cleared the concussion protocol — and that his injury status for the game had been removed.

Williams missed the Bills game with his toe injury and was a limited participant on both Thursday and Friday. “I think he’s going to be OK,” head coach Andy Reid said of Williams on Friday. “We’re limiting him ourselves, not him limiting himself. We just don’t want his toe to flare up. It’s been great so far, so we want to keep it that way.”

With Williams available, running back Derrick Gore has been made inactive.

Cornerback Rashad Fenton — who has missed both playoff games with a back injury — will also suit up for Sunday’s game. After being held out of practice for two weeks, he was a full participant throughout this past week. With Fenton back, cornerback Deandre Baker will not play.

On Saturday, Kansas City elevated wide receiver Daurice Fountain to the active roster from its practice squad. He has now been active for every 2021 playoff game. As an elevated player, he will automatically be returned to the practice squad after the game.

No other Chiefs players missed practice time during the week; the other inactive players should be considered healthy scratches.

The Bengals have also released their list of inactives. Defensive end Cam Sample (groin), wide receiver Stanley Morgan (hamstring) and defensive tackle Josh Tupou (knee) will not play against the Chiefs.

Sample and Morgan had both been listed as doubtful for the game, while Tupou had been listed as questionable. The rest of Cincinnati’s players were full participants in all of this week’s practices.

On Saturday, the Bengals elevated nose tackle Damion Square and wide receiver Trent Taylor from their practice squad for Sunday’s contest. Both are active — and like Fountain, will automatically be returned to the practice squad after the game.