Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry is not practicing Wednesday, the second day of work as the team prepares to take on the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon in the AFC’s divisional round.
Berry missed practice on Friday, December 28, before he was eventually held out of the Chiefs’ final game of the season against the Oakland Raiders. Berry practiced limitedly to start this week on Tuesday, which many felt was a good sign, but he could not participate on Wednesday as he deals with his lingering heel injury.
“It’s difficult from the standpoint of he’s a real critical part of our team,” defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said when asked about the uncertainty surrounding the three-time All-Pro. “He’s an outstanding player. He’s one of our true leaders, the guys rally around him, so I think that part is always hard. You get caught up in different things in the season. But also, if you stick back for a second, you say, ‘Man, this is really hard on this guy, too, as a player. This is something he loves to do. He’s been really good at it, and as difficult as it is on us as a defensive unit or us as a team, I think for him, it’s really challenging.’
“So it’s just what it is. There’s not a lot you can do about it, and every week we’ve got our fingers crossed and hope that he can make it back and go. It’s truly—I know you guys get tired of hearing this—it really is a day to day to day thing here right now, the way it’s playing out. You just got to stay in there and go and figure out how to get other guys ready in case he can’t go.”
Berry was originally held out of the Chiefs’ first 13 games with what the team described as a sore heel, though reports, which have never been confirmed (nor denied) said Berry has what is called a “Haglund’s deformity.”
Berry eventually returned to the lineup to play 30 snaps Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers and played 69 snaps Week 16 against the Seattle Seahawks before what has appeared to be some sort of setback.
Sutton was asked Wednesday about who would replace Berry and linebacker Dorian O’Daniel, who hasn’t practiced at all this week, if they couldn’t play against the Colts.
Without Berry in a must-win game against the Raiders when it came to playoff home-field advantage, the safety snap count breakdown was as follows: Daniel Sorensen (63), Eric Murray (33), Jordan Lucas (32) and Ron Parker (6).
In the above breakdown, it is important to note that Sorensen and Lucas earned the start. Lucas suffered a stinger, and the Chiefs eventually removed starters in a 35-3 blowout.
It remains to be seen who the Chiefs start against the Colts if Berry cannot play once again.
A note on Dorian O’Daniel
#Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub on LB Dorian O’Daniel, who has missed two practices this week: “He’s a four-phase starter for us. He’s an important guy, so we’re keeping an eye on that one, pretty close.”
“I wouldn’t tell you,” he initially said with a smile. “We have to work guys in, obviously, and just see where guys are. The one good thing is you’re at the point of the season where if you do have to miss some reps and you get better toward to the end of the week, this is probably the time to do it. We just have to kind of roll guys through, which we try to do, anyway, but when you have a guy in question, you have to say, ‘OK,’ because that usually affects somebody else.
“Sometimes that affects special teams ... It’s going to affect Dave (Toub) and what he’s putting together, so you got to kind of stay on top of that as a total staff, too. But we just got to slide and we’ve got some different options, but we kind of have to wait and see where it’s at.” [Reply]
Originally Posted by suzzer99:
Really makes you think twice about signing Chris Jones or Dee Ford to a big contract.
I would think twice about signing Hill to a mega contract. Instead of having a single elite WR, I think I would rather have 2 top WRs and figure at least one will be healthy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by suzzer99:
Really makes you think twice about signing Chris Jones or Dee Ford to a big contract.
Chris Jones, yes. I'd sign him to a big contract. He doesn't have an injury history and it would be his second contract. He had the best season for interior lineman outside of Donald. He's going to get paid.
Ford, no way I sign him to a big contract but I'd tag him in a heartbeat. He's already said he'd sign the tag. With his injury history I wouldn't touch him. (I didn't want to sign Houston or Berry for the exact same reason) [Reply]
Jones, Hill, Kelce, and Mahomes of course are the players I would pay hugggggeeeeee contracts too. I'd make Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce the highest paid players at their positions. Mahomes would get the biggest contract ever. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chief Pagan:
I would think twice about signing Hill to a mega contract. Instead of having a single elite WR, I think I would rather have 2 top WRs and figure at least one will be healthy.
I wouldn't...he's shown he can stay healthy. He has generational speed and improved every season.
There is no other player in the NFL quite like him...
THIS is the type of player you pay...thinking twice about paying an injury-prone Watkins $16 million would have been a good idea though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Jones, Hill, Kelce, and Mahomes of course are the players I would pay hugggggeeeeee contracts too. I'd make Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce the highest paid players at their positions. Mahomes would get the biggest contract ever.
my thoughts exactly. I don't have any issue paying those guys big. Mahomes can get a $200 mill contract for all I care, as long as he stays here forever. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCJake:
shit. All year long I was one of the few that wasn't flipping out about this guy missing time. "Save him for the playoffs" sounded good to me. Well here we are. If this guy doesn't take a shot and play well Sunday, *uck him!
Yeah, and everyone who vehemently defended this dumbassed fiasco, at every point of the promise of return, as the bar kept getting pushed further and further away, now just say, "oh well".
Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate:
Yeah, and everyone who vehemently defended this dumbassed fiasco, at every point of the promise of return, as the bar kept getting pushed further and further away, now just say, "oh well".
Aside from looking rather promising in his limited playing time this year, dude is living on a 3 year old reputation. We got here without him. It would be nice if he played, but we'd be hoping that 2 years out of football and two years older that he'd still be the same effective guy he was from before.
Bye Eric. Seriously, love what you did 3 years ago. [Reply]
Seriously, if you are him, you HAVE to know how bad this has looked really all season. Then he makes the "spirit" comment...they won't say anything other than it's a "sore heel" and it's "Day to day to day"...They need to fix their messaging, because a sore heel is something that people live with and work through every day. Jeez...call it what it is, a chronic issue that does not allow him to perform. Injury settlement, make him a coach, call it a day. [Reply]
