KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn’t get the results he hoped for last week when he practiced for the first time since sustaining a shoulder injury in Week 16 but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expects his starting running back to give it a go again this week as the team prepares to face Buffalo in the AFC Divisional Round.
“I thought we’d be able to do more last week, so I’m just curious to see,” Reid said Monday. “I’m thinking he almost has to get out on the field to feel that, see where he’s at. I think he thought he could do more last week, too, it just didn’t work out that way.”
Edwards-Helaire took part in the team’s light Wednesday workout without pads or helmets but didn’t appear on the practice field Thursday or Friday. The team’s Thursday practice this week would be a critical indicator for how much contact Edwards-Helaire can absorb without complications.
The team’s No. 2 running back, Darrel Williams, played just eight snaps due to a toe injury in Sunday’s 42-21 victory over the Pittsburgh. Jerick McKinnon took the lead running back role against the Steelers, tallying 142 total yards along with a touchdown.
Having multiple backs upon which the team can rely is “a good problem to have,” Reid explained.
“We’ll just see how it all plays out,” Reid said. “Darrel, he tried to go but he was having a hard time pushing off that toe. We’re fortunate to have a number of running backs that we feel are good runners. (Derrick) Gore is another one, and then we’ll just see about Clyde, what we get from him.”
The only other injury coming out of the Steelers game involves cornerback Rashad Fenton, who was a last-minute scratch due to a back issue.
“Right before the game he came in, his back had locked up, so we had to sit him down,” Reid said. “That was like right before we had to turn our (inactive) slip in.”
Mike Hughes handled the bulk of the work as the nickel back in Fenton’s absence, playing 59 of the team’s 67 defensive snaps. Deandre Baker also played 17 snaps, mostly in the fourth quarter. Reid gave no indication of the extent of Fenton’s injury and whether it might keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Bills.
