Kansas City Chiefs: Five Takeaways From OTAs

Oct 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) reacts after a hard collision on a touchdown during the first quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe running back Jamaal Charles is smiling because he is finally healthy. After battling knee and ankle injuries all season (despite the defiance of head coach Andy Reid), Charles should enter the 2015 season as healthy as he’s been in some time.

Lack of injuries was a good story to come out of the first week of OTAs for the Chiefs. Although it was minicamp, Jacksonville lost its first-round pick, Dante Fowler, Jr., to an ACL injury, and numerous other teams are dealing with players who have nagging injuries early in the offseason.

The Chiefs, as you will read, have plenty other story lines to worry about than dealing with an injured star. Hopefully good luck will balance out the bad from last season when Kansas City lost linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive lineman Mike DeVito for the season with Week 1 injuries.

Quarterback Alex Smith, who missed Week 17 with a lacerated spleen, is back and healthy along with Charles, DeVito and Johnson.

The only significant “injury” the Chiefs have to report is safety Eric Berry’s courageous battle with cancer. As you’ll read in this article, he is fighting that battle with the same intensity he used to lay out his opponents.

Of course, any time you discuss something such as lack of injuries, it’s always good to find that solid piece of wood to knock on just in case. For now however, the Chiefs look healthy, and that will be a bad sign for the rest of the AFC.

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