Every NFL training camp brings injuries to monitor. That’s a natural part of the sport, whether players are participating in games or even working out with or without pads. One prominent Kansas City Chiefs offseason pickup fell victim to the pesky injury bug this summer, but he’s now back in the fold.
Per numerous reports from Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, MO, cornerback Kristian Fulton is in pads and working with his teammates. This means he’s officially coming off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
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Kristian Fulton Returns to Practice From PUP, Makes Training Camp Debut
This is a downright massive development for the Kansas City secondary. Fulton began camp on the PUP list, nursing a knee injury for the past few weeks. That prevented him from practicing altogether with his new teammates. August 7’s practice marks the first time he’ll work in with his fellow secondary members at camp. As Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest noted, Thursday’s practice is light in nature. Fulton won’t be put to the ultimate test just yet.
Still, it’s a significant step in the right direction for everyone. On July 28, head coach Andy Reid mentioned a “clean-up” procedure for Fulton’s knee from earlier and gave a somewhat cryptic update on his veteran cornerback. Predicting a return timeline seemed like anyone’s guess at the point. Now, just two days before the Chiefs take on the Arizona Cardinals in their preseason opener, Fulton is active. It remains to be seen whether he’ll play on Saturday.
Fulton being present for practice is a huge deal. The former second-round pick signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the Chiefs in March. Given his amount of guaranteed money on the books ($15M), the team desperately needed him to get healthy. Now, the onus is on the oft-injured Fulton to stay on the field.
Over the course of his rookie contract, Fulton recorded 150 tackles and 4 interceptions with the Tennessee Titans. He then inked a one-year pact with the Los Angeles Chargers for last season and had a career-high 51 tackles in 15 regular-season games. Fulton was Pro Football Focus‘ 40th-graded cornerback on the year out of 222 qualified players, shining in run defense (22nd) and holding his own in coverage (60th).
Breaking Down Chiefs’ Depth With Fulton Back
The addition of Fulton will have a ripple effect on the Chiefs’ secondary. It’s expected that if all things go as planned, the free agent pickup will give defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt a boundary option. Throughout his career, Fulton has almost exclusively played on the outside. In turn, that should let All-Pro Trent McDuffie go back to the slot in subpackages. It’s his best position.
The rest of the cornerback room now also faces less pressure to perform. Jaylen Watson was terrific last year before getting hurt, then didn’t look quite the same upon returning. It’s likely unfair to expect him to live up to the hype in a contract year, but Fulton’s acclimation to the lineup should foster a more suitable environment there. Supporting pieces like Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson and rookie Nohl Williams are also knocked down a rung on the proverbial depth chart ladder.
How Spagnuolo makes his rotations will be worth watching. Sometimes, he can’t help himself but to put someone like Johnson or even safety Chamarri Conner on the field as a cornerback. Conner, who played a lot of nickel in 2024, struggled immensely. Despite that, the Chiefs worked him in there with Fulton gone from camp. They even tried second-year safety Jaden Hicks in that role on occasion.
Having Fulton off PUP opens up new options. It’s on Spagnuolo and Co. to choose the right ones.
