Chiefs Injury Updates: Charles, Fisher Practice; Kelce, Lewis, Robinson Do Not

December 02, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) runs the ball in the second half of the game against the Carolina Panthers at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City won 27-21. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

After last Friday’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs left the field a little banged up. Eric Fisher aggravated a hand and shoulder injury, Dunta Robinson hurt his shoulder, and Jamaal Charles didn’t play because of a foot injury.

After a day off on Monday, here is where the Chiefs stand on injuries going into practice today:

Good news: Charles and Fisher are on the field.

There was some concern about Charles comments over the weekend where he was talking about how concerned he was about his foot injury. He essentially said that he wanted to go test it on the practice field because he did know if it was healing right or not.

How to interpret those comments became a subject of debate amongst many. Is Charles foot injury worse than expected or is this Charles being anxious about wanting to get back on the field? Well, after practicing Sunday and then being allowed to participate in practice on Tuesday, we should safely assume things are progressing in a positive way in terms of Charles foot.

It wouldn’t be surprising to me if Charles still sees limited carries in Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it is good to see him on the field for back-to-back practices.

It is also good to see Fisher back on the field. The transition from college to the pros in addition to learning a new position has clearly effected Fisher so far in these first two preseason games. While communication appears to be the biggest culprit in terms of blocking for the offensive line, Fisher is the only one of the group who is also getting manhandled at the line of scrimmage. It isn’t happening on every play, but there have been times this season where Fisher has been dominated in one-on-one situations.

The need for Fisher to be on the practice field and getting better is larger than for anybody else on the Chiefs injury list. Having a few days off to rest and heal should hopefully help his performance and allow him to get better as a player.

Bad News: There is no reason to believe (at the moment anyway) Kelce and Robinson’s injuries are serious. While Kelce’s injury depletes the depth KC has in their tight end group, the Robinson injury is the most troubling.

If you watch the preseason games long enough, you’ll see there is a huge drop off from the Chiefs top three corners to their second group of corners. At this stage of the season, the biggest hole on the defense, outside of defensive line depth, is corner back depth. If Robinson, Brandon Flowers, or Sean Smith were to get hurt and miss time this season, the lack of depth at cornerback is going to deeply effect what the Chiefs can do on defense.

Again, the injury to Robinson is considered to be minor, but if it turns into something nagging or something more serious, KC is going to have some issues trying to replace him.