Chiefs Injury Update: Eric Berry Looking More Likely To Play vs. Patriots

The Kansas City Chiefs will have to battle frigid temperatures and the NFL’s most dominant dynasty of this century on Sunday if they want to return to the Super Bowl. One bit of good news heading into the AFC title game against the New England Patriots is that former All-Pro safety Eric Berry appears more likely to play then he was leading up to the divisional round game against the Indianapolis Colts.

The team announced that Berry would practice on Wednesday. He was limited to begin the week ahead of the Colts game but ended up sitting out of practice closer to the end of that week, ultimately missing the game entirely.

Berry missed the final 15 games of 2017 because of a torn Achilles and the first 13 games of 2018 due to lingering heel problems. He played on a limited basis against the Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks, but sat out the regular season finale against the Oakland Raiders.

If he could play effectively against New England, it could alleviate some concerns about the Chiefs’ secondary. Berry would likely be responsible for covering tight end Rob Gronkowski, who burned the Chiefs for a late, game-winning reception in their regular season matchup against the Patriots.

Conversely, Gronkowski was limited to two catches for 33 yards when Berry covered him in the 2017 season opener.

Wednesday’s development came a day after the Chiefs activated guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from injured reserve and cut safety Ron Parker to make room on the active roster. Cutting Parker seemed like an odd move, given the Chiefs’ lack of depth in the secondary, but Berry being available for Sunday’s game would justify it.