Several injured Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers players are expected to be healthy for the Super Bowl LV.
The running back of Chiefs Le’Veon Bell (knee) and wide receiver Sammy Watkins (calf), as well as wide receiver duo Antonio Brown (knee) from Bucs and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle), should be ready for February 7, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Each lost their team’s championship wins on Sunday.
Watkins played 10 games for the Chiefs in the regular season. He was eliminated early in the season with a hamstring pain and later with a calf injury, and has not played in any of the Chiefs’ previous postseason games. Watkins finished the regular season in fifth place in the Chiefs with 37 receptions for 421 yards and two touchdowns.
Bell joined the Chiefs in October after being released from the New York Jets. Since his arrival, he has had less of an impact on the Chiefs than expected. After the Chiefs lost Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a stretch, they passed over Bell and made Darrel Williams his highlight in a Week 16 game against the Falcons and in the divisional playoff game against the Browns. During the regular season, Bell ran for 254 yards in nine games for the Chiefs.
Winfield appeared on the Buccaneers’ injury report late last week, as he did not train on Friday. The rookie tested his ankle in the pre-game warm-ups on Sunday, but it was considered that he could not play in the NFC team’s championship win over the Green Bay Packers.
Brown suffered a knee injury against the New Orleans Saints and played just a few pops in the second half of the Bucs’ win in the divisional round. He did not participate in Thursday’s training and was not present at Wednesday’s demonstration. Although the team planned Brown to be a game-time decision, he was dropped on Friday. Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians explained that Brown “was not as close as we expected, so let’s get him ready for the next one”.
Information from ESPN’s Adam Teicher was used in this report.