A former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman has opted to join the Tennessee Titans practice squad according to the NFL’s transaction report from Tuesday.
Joey Ivie is the newest member of the Titans practice squad. Ivie first joined the Chiefs late in the 2018 season on the practice squad. He was later signed to a reserve/future deal. He made the Chiefs’ 53-man roster following the 2019 preseason but was released after the first two games of the regular season. He ultimately rejoined the team on the practice squad and would remain there until Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings.
Kansas City was in a bind where they were quite short-handed along the defensive line for a stretch of the season. Ivie stepped in and helped out, but became clear that he wasn’t a long term solution for the team. He only played 87 snaps in total over those five games for the Chiefs’ defense and recorded just two tackles and one QB hit during that span.
Ivie was later released to make room for defensive end Demone Harris. Kansas City needed a little more rotation and depth at the edge rusher position. Ivie only provided that during dime defensive looks and it wasn’t exactly his forte.
One of the games Ivie was active for was the Week 10 matchup against the Titans. It’s clear they liked what they saw out of him during the 17 snaps that he played. Now, he’ll perhaps get a chance to play some snaps on the other side of that matchup.
Ivie was pretty chummy with his Kansas City teammates. During training camp, Patrick Mahomes and some other players stationed on the third floor of the dorms at Missouri Western State University played a prank on Ivie and barricaded him in his room using a spare mattress. They’ll all certainly miss that camaraderie, but there’s always a chance Ivie returns to the Chiefs sometime down the line.