The last thing the Kansas City Chiefs need is another hit to their already ailing and shuffled offensive line -- especially with a visceral Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense seeking revenge for the Week 12 beatdown they suffered at Raymond James Stadium. The good news for head coach Andy Reid, and especially for reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, is they won't -- although they did have to wait with bated breath for the final word on center Daniel Kilgore. Having been in the seat getting his hair cut when the team barber was found to have a positive COVID-19 test, there was immediate concern the 33-year-old was exposed and, as such, was placed in the league's COVID-19 protocol.
He tested negative initially and again thereafter, but needed one more negative result in order to be cleared from the COVID-19/Reserve List to take on the Bucs, and he achieved that on Saturday. Kilgore is now reportedly cleared by the NFL to take the field in Super Bowl LV, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
It was an expected outcome after his initial test, but not promised until now.
While Kilgore is relegated to backup duty behind Austin Reiter, given how injury-ravaged the Chiefs offensive line has been in 2020, it goes without saying how important it'll be to have depth when facing a front that features Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett, Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea. He joins wide receiver Demarcus Robinson in having been cleared to play, Robinson having joined him on the COVID-19/Reserve List after having been a close contact of the same barber -- one who was scheduled to cut Mahomes' hair before being immediately pulled by the Chiefs after seeing his test result last Sunday.
The team's quick action effectively saved the NFL from a Super Bowl disaster, and the activation of Kilgore takes the league one step closer to sidestepping a coronavirus disaster as it attempts to do what many thought impossible: complete a full season during the pandemic.
