Eric Berry injury update: Chiefs safety expected to miss 6 months
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs now have an official timeline on safety Eric Berry’s recovery from an Achilles tendon rupture.
Eric Berry should be just fine for next offseason, just in time for when there’s absolutely no football left to be played. The Kansas City Chiefs safety was given a timeline of six months to return from his recently ruptured Achilles tendon that forced him out of the fourth quarter of the Chiefs recent win over the New England Patriots.
After the game, it wasn’t quite clear if Berry was going to miss the rest of the season or not, but an MRI quickly confirmed the extent of damage to the Achilles, the same sort of injury that knocked Derrick Johnson out of last season. Fortunately the six month timeline will give Berry plenty of time to get ready for next year and a full offseason to rest and rehab.
It’s also possible that Berry could return earlier and Chiefs head trainer Rick Burkholder didn’t want to cement anything for Berry knowing how quickly he’s returned from previous injuries or illnesses—specifically his heroic return from Hodgkins Lymphoma in under a year.
"“However that is just a ballpark.. We know that Eric Berry has done some amazing things in the past,” said Burkholder in a press conference on Monday."
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Berry is the team’s heart and soul on defense, but the Chiefs clearly have to move on without him. Dan Sorensen should step into a starting role in the base defense and Ron Parker is versatile enough to play either safety position. Eric Murray is also a player familiar enough with the defense now given the opportunity to show what he can do.