Despite a nice week back at practice for the Chiefs, safety Eric Berry is not expected to play for Kansas City as they face the Raiders on the road.
It turns out the preliminary reports about Eric Berry’s slow return to the field were correct. Ian Rapoport reported early Sunday morning that the Kansas City Chiefs safety is not expected to play in Week 13 on the road against the Oakland Raiders despite a clean week back at practice.
Berry returned to practice for the first time since August 11 this week and, as Rapoport notes, he experienced a pain-free return to the field. This is good news as Berry continues to work himself into game shape but apparently he’s not quite ready for the task of suiting up against the Raiders just yet.
A return at any point in the near future from Berry will come as a great boost to the Chiefs given the circumstances of the last 48 hours. The Chiefs hit a low point of a wonderful season with the release of Kareem Hunt after a video emerged of the running back assaulting a woman. TMZ Sports obtained and released a video of the incident involving Hunt and Abigail Ottinger from last February and the Chiefs responded with his outright release within hours.
The potential of having Berry back would be the sort of boost craved by the fans (and likely his teammates) at this point. Hunt’s exit was reported to be very emotional. Meanwhile, Berry has been a fan favorite and symbol of courage for the Chiefs for the last few years as he’s battled cancer and injuries to return to be a dominant player in the secondary. Now he’s trying to return for the first time in well over a year—since Week 1 of the 2017 season.