When Eric Berry went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the season opener against the Buffalo Bills last season, the Kansas City Chiefs lost a rising star in their secondary they never adequately replaced.
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Berry has been cleared to take part in training camp next month, and he told Sirius XM Radio on Wednesday he is now "100 percent" physically.
If the Chiefs are to emerge as a darkhorse candidate in the AFC West this season, they will need Berry to return to the level of play that made him a Pro-Bowl talent as a rookie. Kansas City plays in a division with Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Carson Palmer -- and as Marc Sessler pointed out in our "Under Pressure" series -- Romeo Crennel's 3-4 defense calls for a powerful, reliable safety up the middle.
That was once Eric Berry. The Chiefs will need him to be that way again.