2019 AFC Championship Game inactives: Deatrich Wise Jr. a surprise inactive for Patriots against Chiefs

In a little more than an hour, the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs will square off in the 2019 AFC Championship Game and with a Super Bowl berth on the line. With both teams almost fully healthy — they combined for only one player listed on Friday’s final injury reports — they can field their best lineups today.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at today’s inactives.

Patriots inactives

CB Duke Dawson

DE Keionta Davis

OC James Ferentz

DT Danny Shelton

TE Stephen Anderson

DE Deatrich Wise Jr.

DE Ufomba Kamalu

After removing Deatrich Wise Jr. (ankle) from their injury list on Thursday, the Patriots did not list even a single player on their final two practice reports of the week. This means that all seven of today’s inactive players are healthy scratches — with Wise Jr. himself the biggest surprise of the bunch. With him out, Derek Rivers and Adrian Clayborn will serve as the depth options at the defensive edge alongside Trey Flowers and John Simon.

The second big name on the list, quite literally, is Danny Shelton. With him out, Malcom Brown, Lawrence Guy and Adam Butler will be the main men at the defensive tackle spot. The rest of the inactives list does not include any surprises — even though safety Obi Melifonwu making the cut for the 46-man game day roster can be classified as one.

Chiefs inactives

LB Dorian O’Daniel

OL Kahlil McKenzie

OL Jimmy Murray

OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif

WR Kelvin Benjamin

TE Deon Yelder

LB Tanoh Kpassagnon

Dorian O’Daniel was already ruled out on Friday, the rest of the inactives are all healthy scratches. A look at the list also confirms that safety Eric Berry will be active for Kansas City today — only the third time this year that he will appear in a game for his team. Guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who was activated off injured reserve earlier this week, will not play.