Chiefs to elevate TE Matt Bushman from practice squad for Week 1

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to elevate a single player from the practice squad for their Week 1 tilt against the Detroit Lions. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are set to bring TE Matt Bushman up from the practice squad for Thursday's game against the Lions. He'll serve as insurance should […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Sep 7, 2023 2:35 PM EDT

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to elevate a single player from the practice squad for their Week 1 tilt against the Detroit Lions.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are set to bring TE Matt Bushman up from the practice squad for Thursday's game against the Lions. He'll serve as insurance should TE Travis Kelce be unable to play due to his hyperextended knee.

Just because Bushman is elevated from the practice squad does not mean he'll be active in Week 1. It's entirely possible that Kelce is cleared to play (some are even predicting he will be) and Bushman is made inactive. They need to elevate Bushman now in the event that Kelce isn't cleared by Rick Burkholder. Should that scenario occur, Week 1 will still count toward one of the three practice squad elevations players are allotted in a given season.

The #Chiefs are elevating TE Matt Bushman from the practice squad for tonight's game against the #Lions, source said. Insurance in case Travis Kelce can’t go.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 7, 2023

Should Bushman be active, he'll likely be third in the pecking order behind Noah Gray and Blake Bell. It's worth noting, however, that Bushman did receive quite a few repetitions with the first-team offense during training camp. He also finished the 2023 NFL preseason as the team's top-graded pass-blocking tight end and second-best run-blocking tight end per PFF.

An undrafted free agent out of BYU in 2021, Bushman first caught on with the Chiefs during the preseason last year. He had a big game against the Green Bay Packers, which saw him go for over 70 yards receiving and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he suffered a clavicle injury during that game and would end up waived-injured before later rejoining the team on the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future deal with the team for 2022, but he didn't make it through 53-man roster cuts. He was signed to the practice squad on the ensuing day.