KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As expected, safety Tyrann Mathieu is active for the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati on Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mathieu tied for third on the Chiefs in tackles this season and is a leader and organizing force for the defense.
He had six tackles in a Week 17 loss against the Bengals.
Mathieu left Kansas City’s Divisional playoff game against Buffalo with a concussion on the first drive and missed practice Wednesday.
He was a full participant at practice, which doesn’t include full-contact periods, on Thursday and Friday, but still had to test out of the NFL’s concussion protocol.
The Chiefs announced Sunday morning that Mathieu had been cleared and removed his “questionable” injury designation.
We have removed the injury designation for S Tyrann Mathieu. He will play in today’s game. pic.twitter.com/Rw2Pq0bi9b
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 30, 2022
Mathieu also is the Chiefs’ nominee for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year and won the charity challenge via fan vote, which netted a donation to the Tyrann Mathieu Foundation.
Running back Darrel Williams (toe), who suffered a toe injury on the final play of the first half in the regular-season finale at Denver, was the only player with an injury designation. He also was questionable after missing both previous playoff wins against Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
He’s also active for the game. Williams was active against the Bills, but he didn’t play.
The Chiefs are in good shape at running back now that Clyde Edwards-Helaire has returned from a shoulder injury against the Bills and with Jerick McKinnon taking a star turn in the Wild Card win against the Steelers.
The pair combined for 147 yards from scrimmage in last Sunday’s stirring comeback win.
Williams being active bumped Derrick Gore to the list on inactives.
Kansas City’s other inactives with a Super Bowl LVI berth on the line are quarterback Shane Buecehele, cornerback DeAndre Baker, defensive end Josh Kaindoh, offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders.
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For the Bengals, defensive end Cam Sample (groin) and wide receiver Stanley Morgan (hamstring) were both listed as doubtful on the final injury report.
Defensive tackle Josh Topou (knee) was questionable.
All three are inactive along with cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, wide receiver Trenton Irwin, running back Trayveon Williams and offensive lineman Fred Johnson.
