KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Backup left tackle Kingsley Suamataia began the season as a starter but was benched for Wanya Morris. He then struggled so badly after Morris was hurt in last week’s stunning win against Denver that he was pulled again.
Now, he’s a surprise inactive as the Kansas City Chiefs are set for a rematch of last January’s AFC Divisional showdown at the Buffalo Bills.
Suamataia, 21, a second-round pick — No. 63 overall — from BYU last spring, was a surprise inclusion among the inactives because he hasn’t appeared on the Chiefs’ official report.
Ethan Driskell, an undrafted rookie tackle from Marshall, will be active for the first time this season. The 6-foot-8, 313-pound Driskell was a third team All-Sun Belt performer as a senior with the Thundering Herd.
He will serve as Kansas City’s backup tackle behind Morris (knee), who didn’t miss any practice despite missing two quarters last week after tweaking his knee, and right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to the Chiefs after being cut by New England during training camp, is active and will return to the field for the Chiefs.
He was Kansas City’s top receiver on the Super Bowl LVII championship team two years ago but signed a long-term deal with the Patriots. It didn’t work out there, so he returned to the wide receiver-needy Chiefs.
Smith-Schuster was set to take on an expanded role with Hollywood Brown (sternoclavicular dislocation) and Rashee Rice (knee) sidelined indefinitely.
He responded with seven catches for 130 yards against New Orleans in a Monday Night Football victory on Oct. 7, but he injured his hamstring in the win.
Smith-Schuster tried to play through it after a bye week, but he re-aggravated the hamstring injury seven snaps into a win at San Francisco and has missed the last three games before returning to practice fully on Thursday and Friday.
No Chiefs carried an injury designation into the game, which is the eighth meeting with the Bills since 2020.
Buffalo is 3-1 in the regular season against Kansas City, including three straight wins, during that span.
But the Chiefs have won all three postseason meetings — ending the Bills’ seasons in the 2020 AFC Championship Game then the 2021 and 2023 AFC Divisional rounds.
Buffalo also will get one of its top wide receivers, Amari Cooper, back. He had missed the last two weeks with a wrist injury and was questionable.
While Cooper will be active, starting right tackle Spencer Brown (ankle) is inactive. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, returning only in a limited capacity Friday, so it’s not a surprise that he's unable to play.
The Bills had previously ruled out wide receiver Keon Coleman (wrist) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee). The latter is a significant absence given opposing tight ends’ relative success against the Chiefs.
Brown, Coleman and Kincaid are inactive, the team announced, along with cornerback Kaiir Elam and interior offensive lineman Will Clapp.
In addition to Suamataia, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, guard C.J. Hanson, defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu and defensive end Cameron Thomas are inactive against Buffalo.
Running back Isiah Pacheco (ankle), who has been sidelined since breaking his tibia near the ankle joint in Week 2 against Cincinnati, and defensive end Charles Omenihu (knee), who hasn’t played since suffering a torn ACL in last season’s AFC Championship Game at Baltimore, returned to practice this week, but both remain on injured reserve for now.
The Chiefs have two more weeks to activate Pacheco and Omenihu before they’d have to return to IR for the remainder of the season.
Spencer Schrader, who kicked for South Florida and Notre Dame in college, was signed off the New York Jets’ practice squad to replace Harrison Butker, who landed on injured reserve and had left knee surgery earlier in the week.
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