Several injured players from the Kansas City and Tampa Bay Buccaneers heads are expected to be healthy for Super Bowl LV.
Runners-up Le’Veon Bell (knee) and wide receiver Sammy Watkins (calf) are expected to be ready, as well as duo Bucs of great receiver Antonio Brown (knee) and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) On February 7, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Everyone missed their team’s championship victories on Sunday.
Watkins played 10 games for the Chiefs in the regular season. He was out early in the season with a sore hamstring muscle and later with a calf injury, and did not play in any of the Chiefs ’previous postseason games. Watkins finished the fifth regular season against the Chiefs with 37 catches 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 a lesser impact on the bosses than expected. After the Chiefs lost Clyde Edwards-Helaire by a stretch, they overtook Bell and turned Darrel Williams into their protagonist in a Week 16 game against the Falcons and in the divisional round game against the Browns . During the regular season, Bell ran 254 yards in nine games for the Chiefs.
Winfield suffered an ankle injury in practice last Thursday and missed practice on Friday. He still flew to Green Bay with the team, but after testing his ankle in warm-ups, it was considered the best course of action for him.
Brown, who led the Bucs in goals for the past five weeks of the regular season, suffered a knee injury in the division game against the New Orleans Saints. He did not practice last week or make the trip to Green Bay, as the team felt he was not as far away as they had hoped in his recovery, and they felt a plane ride could cause further swelling. Brown got a 36-yard touchdown in the wildcard game against Washington.
The Bucs ’other starting safety, Jordan Whitehead, who was forced to play twice, left Sunday’s win over the Packers with a shoulder injury and did not return. Whitehead had an MRI on Monday, but sources told ESPN’s Jenna Laine it’s too early to know if she’ll be able to play in the Super Bowl or not and they take it every day to see how it goes.
Information from Adam Teicher and Jenna Laine of ESPN was used in this report.