The Kansas City Chiefs have a reinforcement on the defensive side of the ball to start the practice week.

Chiefs rookie DE Joshua Kaindoh is back on the 53-man roster after a two-month stay on injured reserve according to the NFL’s personnel notice for Tuesday. Kaindoh was placed on injured reserve in October with an ankle injury. He was designated to return from injured reserve on December 22nd, and has spent the past three weeks getting back up to speed.

A fourth-round draft pick out of Florida State in the 2021 NFL draft, Kaindoh hasn’t made much of an impact in his rookie year. He appeared in just three games prior to his injury, playing  46 total defensive snaps in that span. He’s recorded no official statistics yet, but it did feel like he was getting close to a breakthrough before his injury.

With a rotation that features Frank Clark, Melvin Ingram, Mike Danna and Alex Okafor, the Chiefs are unlikely to have Kaindoh as a gameday active unless there is an injury. This does provide them with some depth if one of their defensive ends were to get hurt during the playoff run.

The Chiefs had a free spot on the 53-man roster due to placing Lucas Niang on injured reserve last week. That means no corresponding roster move was necessary to make room for Kaindoh on the active roster. With Khalen Saunders and Chris Lammons both designated to return from injured reserve, there could be some transactions in the coming days to make room for them on the 53-man roster.