Possibly no team suffered a more snake-bitten first few weeks of the 2011 season than the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles to season-ending injuries before Week 3.
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It's now been almost seven full months since Berry tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and he appeared on WHB-AM this week to give an update on his rehab and discuss how his recovery was aided in part by the presence of his fellow injured teammates.
“Right now I’m doing very good. My knee feels great," Berry told the station, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "As you know, I got hurt at the beginning of the season, so I’ve had a lot of time to sit back and let my body rest and let it heal up. So right now I’m just very anxious to get back on the field. Everything's looking good, so I'm just gonna continue to work hard and just make sure I'm ready to go come fall.”
Berry, a Pro-Bowl selection during his 2010 rookie season, said that the Chiefs' unexpected rash of injuries to key players had a small silver lining in that Berry, Charles and tight end Tony Moeaki were able to support each other during their respective rehab processes.
"That was probably one of the best things that could’ve happened, Berry said. "It sucks that we all had injuries, but the good thing about it is we were able to push each other through the rehab throughout some of the discomforts of the surgery. And I think that helped us out a lot because we all just competed while we were down there. We always wanted to try to, I guess, set the bar for the next thing we had to do. And I think that’s what made us want to work even harder through our rehab."
A lot has changed in Kansas City since Berry last put on a Chiefs uniform. Out is head coach Todd Haley, in is Romeo Crennel. Out is cornerback Brandon Carr, in is Stanford Routt. Berry told the station he's excited about the direction the team has taken.
“I was very excited that Routt was going to be a Chief," Berry said. "Just because seeing what he’s done on the field, and I heard he’s a great guy, I heard he’s a great player. ... I was very excited for Carr, too, because I think he got the contract he deserves.
" ... I wish he would’ve stayed with the Chiefs. That’s somebody that when I came in he was right there helping me out. So I wished he would’ve stayed here, but that’s just me being selfish."