Chiefs' Damien Williams, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Reportedly Will Play in 2021

The 2020 season isn't over just yet, but the Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly set to receive a boost in 2021. 

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Sunday that guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and running back Damien Williams, who both opted out of the 2020 season, are expected to return next year. 

"Still a lot of uncertainties with COVID, but I am told both players currently expect to be back with the Chiefs in 2021," Pelissero said (1:22 mark). 

Williams led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl victory last season, when he scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes of play to help Kansas City to the 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers. 

He elected to skip the 2020 season to care for his mother, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. 

"I never had the opportunity to have my dad there," Williams said on SiriusXM NFL Radio in July, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. "My mom is my rock. My everything. So during a hard time like this, I should be next to her every step."

Duvernay-Tardif, who in 2018 became the first NFL player to be a medical doctor, was the first player to opt out of the 2020 season. He spent this year's campaign working at a long-term care facility near his native Montreal and beginning a master's in public health at Harvard, according to Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports. 

According to Paylor, Duvernay-Tardif is "focused on getting back to Kansas City in July." 

While both plan to return next season, the Chiefs will continue to look elsewhere when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.