Getty Kansas City Chiefs practice squad wide receiver Daurice Fountain.
The Kansas City Chiefs made a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday, October 13, most of which centered around running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffering an MCL sprain in Week 5. The Chiefs officially placed the second-year back on injured reserve, promoted running back Derrick Gore and offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho to the 53-man roster, and waived wide receiver Daurice Fountain.
We’ve placed RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire on Injured Reserve
We have waived WR Daurice Fountain
We’ve activated the following Practice Squad players:
RB Derrick Gore
T Prince Tega Wanogho
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Fountain Makes Plea on Twitter
After a flashy preseason in which he caught 10 passes for 118 yards, Fountain worked his way onto the Chiefs’ 53-man roster at the beginning of the regular season. He was inactive for all five regular-season games up until his release, and given that the Chiefs had seven receivers between the active roster and practice squad, it made sense to trim that position down, which lead to Fountain’s departure.
Nevertheless, Fountain took Twitter following his release, making a plea to Kansas City — or any team really — to give him one opportunity, presumably a chance to play in a meaningful NFL game.
“Just need one opportunity,” Fountain wrote.
Just need one opportunity.
Given his talent and hard work ethic, Fountain should find a home at some point this season on another team’s practice squad. The challenge for him will be making his way onto an active roster and producing enough to be active for a regular-season game. So while his plea is simply an expression of emotion, there are many dominos that will need to fall the right way for Fountain to make an impact on game day for an NFL team.
**UPDATE** — Fountain was signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad and was seen on Thursday, October 14 at practice, according to Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest.
Bieniemy on Fountain
Prior to Kansas City’s preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy spoke about all the right things Fountain did over the summer to be productive for the Chiefs, and eventually, make his way to the active roster.
“Daurice (Fountain) is one of those kids who doesn’t want to take anything for granted,” Bieniemy said. “The only Daurice wants to know is what can he do better? The biggest thing that Coach Joe Bleymaier, myself, and Coach Reid have all talked to him about is just making sure that he can fine-tune three little aspects of his game each and every day.
“The kid works hard and on top of that, he’s a smart player. And then, obviously, you’ve seen the fruits of his labor because what he has done in practice is showing up on game day and we see it each and every day. And it’s because he’s invested in himself and invested in that playbook. And when he has an opportunity to go up and make that play, he just goes up and makes it. The kid is a great kid. I’m proud of the things that he’s done so far and we’re just going to keep evaluating him.”
Unfortunately, there was no room left at Arrowhead for someone like Fountain. Such is the way of business in the NFL.
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