Injury Report: Berry Misses Practice Again

For the second straight day Eric Berry has missed practice due to his high ankle sprain. His designation as ‘did not participate’ likely means he will not play on Monday against the New England Patriots though this is not official.

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Ron Parker has been filling in for Berry while he’s been out and Parker has done an admirable job. While Parker’s strength isn’t against the run, he is at least stabilizing the back end of the defense against the pass which has really helped the Chiefs in third down situations.

Even with Parker’s success, the Chiefs need Berry out there if they want to revive this season. Berry is not only the Chiefs best all around defender now that Derrick Johnson is out, he is also their biggest playmaker. Through three weeks the Chiefs have yet to force a turnover on defense, which is supposed to be a trademark of what they do schematically. The pass rush has been strong enough to cause some problems for opposing quarterbacks but the back end of the defense hasn’t been able to convert on anything yet. Berry would be a useful part in fixing that problem.

More positive news can be found on the De’Anthony Thomas, Jamaal Charles, and Sean Smith front. All three were limited in practice again today, making two straight days in which they have practiced. Thomas was pulled after one practice last week so seeing him participate in back to back practices is a positive development.

Smith’s continued involvement in practice is encouraging given that the Chiefs have basically nothing behind him at cornerback right now. Throw in the situation with Berry and the Chiefs absolutely need him to play on Monday.

Last, and most importantly, Charles continues to participate in practice with his bruised/sprained ankle. After the news of Joe McKnight, the Chiefs need Charles to be healthy if they want to run their full compliment of plays on Monday night against New England. Letting Knile Davis and McKnight split those roles last week was key in the Chiefs win over Miami, but that won’t be an option for them if Charles cannot go on Monday. Sure, Thomas could take a few of those snaps if he is cleared to play on Monday but the likelihood is his touches will be very limited.

In a best case scenario the Chiefs will have all of Charles, Thomas, Dwayne Bowe, and Travis Kelce available to them to combat New England’s very strong defense. With those weapons plus the assistance of Arrowhead, Kansas City should have a chance of winning this game.