Getty Demone Harris of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.
The veteran defensive end has found a new home after being cut by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Demone Harris has signed to the Houston Texans’ practice squad, according to Aaron Wilson of SportsTalk790.
Texans sign former Chiefs, Ravens and Buccaneers defensive end Demone Harris (University of Buffalo, 6-foot-4, 272 pounds) to practice squad, per a league source. @SportsTalk790
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Harris, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018, spent time on the Baltimore Ravens (2019) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2018-19) practice squads prior to joining the Chiefs. He was on Kansas City’s roster in 2020 as well as this season, rotating between the practice squad and 53-man roster at various points.
Harris played in two games this season for the Chiefs, which was in Weeks 5 and 6 against the Buffalo Bills and Washington Football Team, respectively. In those games, Harris played a total of 17 defensive snaps, per Pro Football Reference.
Kansas City terminated Harris’ practice squad contract on Monday, October 25, per the NFL’s transaction wire.
Harris Cut Likely Due to Healthier D-Line
Kansas City promoted Harris for Weeks 5 and 6 of the regular season due to one key injury on the defensive line. Chris Jones has been battling a wrist injury for the first half of the regular season, to the point where he was sidelined for the games against Buffalo and Washington. Because of that, Harris was the roster replacement for Jones on gameday.
However, following the game against Washington, Jones returned to the lineup, and Frank Clark — who was battling a hamstring injury for all of September and into October — is seemingly fully healthy, as he hasn’t appeared on the injury report since Week 5. So, that left no more room for Harris, who was one of three defensive linemen on the practice squad — the other two being defensive tackle Cortez Broughton and defensive end Austin Edwards — which is why he was cut the day after Kansas City’s blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Andy Reid on Defensive Play
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke about the improvement of Kansas City’s defense, which gave up just seven points in Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers and 24 total points over the past two games.
“The last two weeks, I think the guys have played better. Some of it is just getting the guys back on the field as a unit,” Reid explained during his press conference on Monday, November 8. “Getting 24 (Melvin Ingram III) in there I think helped. That’s a nice addition. If you can add a Pro Bowl-type player in on the defensive line, it surely can’t hurt, and he got quite a few snaps in there on nickel situations. But they’re playing well together, and I think Spags is doing a nice job with the game plans.”
Asked Andy Reid for the key to a strong defensive performance on Sunday vs. Packers: Highlighted health, game plan of Spags and specifically the addition of Melvin Ingram on nickel looks, L’Jarius Sneed’s best game of 2021.
With Ingram now available to help on the edge in Kansas City, Reid addressed whether or not we would see Jones — who has played defensive end regularly this season along with some snaps in the interior — would go back to playing along the interior more often.
“No, we talked to Chris and Chris just wants to do what’s best and help out wherever he can,” Reid said. “He played inside; he played a couple of snaps outside. He sure did a nice job there; I mean that’s what I thought. I appreciate his attitude on that as he goes forward.”
Andy Reid says he’s talked to Chris Jones about playing inside more, says Jones has a great attitude about it and is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team.