Sounds like good advice from Gordon - although I would suggest that the riving knife thickness should be only just less than the blade kerf, so that it eliminates the possibility of kickback.
I’m sure that you will be able to ‘flatten’ the existing riving knife, ie bend it back to the original shape, but will need to remove it from the machine first. Jet should be able to supply a replacement if you need one. Try Customer Service at AT&M if you decide to use that route.
Remember that the wide kerf blade will be doing more work than the original blade, ie removing more material, and will need a gentler feed rate to ensure you do not slow/stall the motor.
