The Chiefs’ offense may soon receive some additional help. Guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will practice on Wednesday, Andy Reid said (via the Kansas City Star’s Brooke Pryor, on Twitter).
Duvernay-Tardif has been on IR since early October with a fractured fibula. He can be activated in advance of Sunday’s game, if the Chiefs choose. He has missed the required eight weeks of action. If LDT can return this season and take his place back at right guard, it would reform Kansas City’s starting offensive line.
Since Duvernay-Tardif was last on the field, the Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt and have been without Sammy Watkins and Spencer Ware. Attached to a high-end guard contract, Duvernay-Tardif would be a welcome addition for a Chiefs team that has lost its past two games and likely needs to beat the Raiders on Sunday to secure home-field advantage for the first time since 1997.
Teams can activate players from IR in the playoffs, so the Chiefs would not have to bring Duvernay-Tardif onto their active roster in time for Sunday’s game. He has three weeks to be activated.
Andrew Wylie has been Kansas City’s primary starter in Duvernay-Tardif’s absence. The 2014 sixth-round pick and recent medical school graduate has started since his rookie season. He signed a five-year, $41.26MM extension early in 2017.