Detroit Lions inactives: Week 1 vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Here's a look at the inactive players for the Detroit Lions, and the Kansas City Chiefs, for Thursday night's season opener.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The 2023 NFL season will start with the upstart Detroit Lions taking on the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night. In terms of injuries, the clear headline for the game is the status of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce suffered a knee injury during Tuesday's practice, and he will be a genuine game-time decision.

As insurance against a Kelce absence, the Chiefs called up tight end Matt Bushman from the practice squad earlier on Thursday.

On the Lions side, we already know two of their seven inactives for Thursday night. Defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs was informed he's being benched for the game, and he told reporters so on Monday when his social media activity the previous day brought attention. Head coach Dan Campbell plainly explained that Buggs has not been up to par in practice, which was shown when Benito Jones started to take his first-team reps late in training camp.

Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley was a surprise activation from the PUP list when the Lions whittled down to their initial 53-man roster. But he didn't seem likely to play against the Chiefs, even as his recovery from a torn ACL reaches an end. Indeed, he was the only Lion with an injury designation on the final injury report of the week. And he's out, of course.

Detroit Lions inactives: Week 1 vs. the Chiefs

Here is the list of inactive players for the Lions in Week 1.

DT Isaiah Buggs
CB Steven Gilmore

DT Brodric Martin
CB Emmanuel Moseley
DE Romeo Okwara

With Buggs benched, the rookie nose tackle Martin being inactive too is certainly a surprise. The Lions are looking a little thin for big bodies on the interior defensive line.

And here's the list of inactives for the Chiefs.

CB Darius Rush
CB Nic Jones
DE BJ Thompson
OL Wanya Morris
T Lucas Niang
TE Travis Kelce
DT Neil Farrell

News broke before inactives were announced that Kelce would be out. No other notable names for the Chiefs here.

Schedule