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 Marcellus:
What part of this is not possible with the way the salary cap in the NFL is set up does your stupid ass not understand?
They dont save a dime if he retires, they dont save a penny if they cut him now or had before the season or anytime during the season.
I read somewhere that if they do an injury settlement that there would be some cap relief.
This is gonna get messy, though. It’s why owners should let the people they hire do their jobs.
Clark stepped in on 2 deals...Bowe and Berry...and was lucky Bowe fucked himself or that deal would have screwed KCs cap too. [Reply]
The worst thing, by far, that transpired out of this entire shit-show...is Berry's agent and the holdout tactic that ultimately set the stage for Dorsey's firing.
KC lost the best GM in franchise history over a record contract for a player that lasted all of 2 games. He didnt want to sign Berry...and it ended up costing him his job..
Originally Posted by Superturtle:
Chiefs couldn't have possibly handled this any worse if he really doesn't play Saturday.
Yep, several times the Chiefs have delayed handling injuries and had them cause drawn out problems. Houston didn't have surgery immediately, Berry didn't have surgery immediately. Maybe the players are refusing, but if that is the case then why are we treating players like this with such kid gloves?
We should never have given Houston and Berry huge contracts. We would have been better off trading them or letting them walk for comp picks. That's 30 million per year of cap space freed up. [Reply]
So my understanding is that Berry will not play this weekend but would be day-to-day to play in the AFC Championship if the Chiefs were to advance. Is that correct? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Superturtle:
Get the surgery back in August when it became apparent his heel was ****ed up.
People keep saying this but had had the surgery he would have missed the season. So what difference does it make?
Hindsight is awesome but the fact is he appeared to be 100% healthy heading into camp. You really blow the guy up for a season ending surgery over a sore heal? How often if ever has that been predicted?
Do you not think had they KNOWN how this was going to play out they would went another direction?
Its a mess, it sucks but given the options Im not sure they did handle it wrong. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
What part of this is not possible with the way the salary cap in the NFL is set up does your stupid ass not understand?
They dont save a dime if he retires, they dont save a penny if they cut him now or had before the season or anytime during the season.
None of what you just said discredits what I said. You're the biggest dumbass here. A reasonable player who signed a recordbreaking contract but was unable to perform at all for the life of the contract would agree to an injury settlement. Eric Berry is selfish and isn't a reasonable player. Berry has made roughly $90 million in his career so far and will end up making almost $140 million when it's all said and done despite only being available roughly half the time. A reasonable player would see that their contract is hurting the team and agree to a reduced salary to help the team. Hell, Berry is making more than Tom Brady at this point. Let that sink in. [Reply]
