Jason La Canfora has word that the Kansas City Chiefs are expecting Eric Berry to officially return to the field after the team’s bye week.
After a season-long wait that’s been shrouded in confusion and mystery, the Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly expecting star safety Eric Berry to return after the team’s bye week, per CBS Sports Jason La Canfora.
After the Chiefs visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football in Week 11, the team will enjoy a week off with the latest possible bye in the NFL schedule in Week 12. From there, the team picks up the final five games on the schedule for the stretch run as they seek to finalize their playoff positioning for a first-round bye.
La Canfora is reporting that Berry will return to practice after the bye week which means that Berry could return in time to visit the Oakland Raiders for his first game in Week 13 or be ready to face the Baltimore Ravens at home in a homecoming at Arrowhead Stadium. The latter could be the last important game for AFC supremacy depending on how the chips fall over the next few weeks.
Berry has missed every single regular season game since Week 1 of the 2017 season when he tore his Achilles tendon. Since then he’s worked his way back only to have a heel injury that won’t go away in the preseason, an injury that has not been bad enough to place him on injured reserve but the Chiefs have kept him off of the field for 11 straight weeks now despite being designated each and every week as “doubtful.”
The entire situation has been made confusing by the lack of information presented by the Chiefs on the matter. No one has fully explained the injury to date, and head coach Andy Reid has insisted that Berry is day to day and that he continues to get better. Without any real measure or metrics of what “better” means, it’s felt a bit like the Chiefs were stringing everyone along without ever being fully honest about Berry’s condition.
All of that frustration will go away the moment Berry steps back on the field for the Chiefs. Here’s hoping La Canfora’s report is correct and that the Chiefs enjoy the return of a defensive hero in the secondary at the right time for the stretch run.