The Kansas City Chiefs have brought back a familiar face on the practice squad, but they’ve also lost a practice squad player for six games.
According to the NFL’s personnel notice for Monday, Chiefs practice squad WR/RB Jerrion Ealy has been suspended for six games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. An undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss, Ealy was released during 53-man roster cuts and signed to the practice squad promptly after. He’s been a developmental player for the team with upside on special teams. He’ll move to the reserve/suspended list for the next six games and won’t count toward the practice squad.
Replacing Ealy on the practice squad is former Chiefs WR Marcus Kemp, who was reported to be visiting the team over the weekend. Kemp originally signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Hawaii in 2017. He primarily played special teams during his tenure in Kansas City, with just a handful of catches and opportunities on offense during his career.
Kemp left the Chiefs this past offseason and joined the New York Giants. He suffered a hamstring injury during the course of his time in New York. He landed on injured reserve, where he was eventually released with an injury settlement. Now healthy, Kemp returns to Kansas City to reinforce the special teams unit.
With players like Elijah Lee and Dicaprio Bootle already having used multiple practice squad elevations, it makes a ton of sense to add a player like Kemp to the fold. Expect that Dave Toub will get him up to speed and have him ready to be called up in a standard practice squad elevation as early as this week.
