Eric Berry expected back at practice for Kansas City Chiefs this week

The Kansas City Chiefs will finally see star safety Eric Berry return to practice this week as the team prepares to face the Raiders.

Eric Berry has picked the perfect time to return to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Days after the team gave up 54 points to the Los Angeles Rams in a shootout of a loss, one in which the Chiefs put up 51 points but it still somehow was not enough, Sam Mellinger of the K.C. Star reports that Berry will “almost certainly” return to practice this week.

The wait has been a long time coming for the Chiefs, and everyone has felt the weight of his absence—even the fans. The Chiefs defense has certainly felt it the most, the void of one of the most dynamic safeties to ever play the game in the last decade or more.

Berry has been missing since Week 1 of the 2017 season, a game against the New England Patriots in which he went down with an Achilles injury and missed the rest of the season. Berry was ready to go and had returned to preseason practice for the Chiefs, but a subsequent heel injury has forced him out of each and every game through the first 11 weeks of the year. The team has avoided placing Berry on injured reserve at any point, giving some level of optimism for a potential return each week, but Berry has remained out for all of 2018 so far.

Berry’s return would bolster a safety position that has felt the void due to injury all season long. Not only has Berry been gone, but fellow presumed starter Daniel Sorensen broke his leg during the preseason that kept him out until just a few weeks ago. In addition, rookie Armani Watts is now out for the season as well, meaning the Chiefs haven’t been fully healthy at the position all season long.

Berry hasn’t played in nearly two years, but he was a first-team All-Pro as recently as 2016. The five-time Pro Bowler will turn 30 in December.