16 players on the practice squad would be another reason.
They can put two whole teams on the field and then some to start things off.
To be able to rotate players on two offenses/ defenses takes a lot of bodies.

So right now. 16 DL, 16 OL, 10 CB’s, 7 safeties, 7 linebackers,
12 WR, 7 RB, 6 TE

Not sure if the newest WR was on the list and I’m not going back to look, so it could be 13 WR.