Chiefs Safety Eric Berry Out For Season With Ruptured Achilles After Win Vs. Patriots

Eric Berry’s 2017 season is over after just one game.

Eric Berry Injury News

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced Friday that the three-time first-team All-Pro safety ruptured his Achilles tendon in the team’s 42-27 victory over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

“You’re not going to replace Eric Berry with another Eric Berry. That’s not what happens,” Reid said in a conference call Friday. “But the guys know that Eric would be disappointed if they left off the accelerator at all. I think we’ll be OK there.”

Reid mentioned Daniel Sorensen and Eric Murray as possible options to receive snaps in Berry’s absence.

Berry, 28, was carted off midway through the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game — during which he mainly guarded Rob Gronkowski — and didn’t return.

The five-time Pro Bowl safety — who has been with the Chiefs since the team drafted him as the fifth overall pick out of Tennessee in 2010 — signed a six-year, $78 million extension with Kansas City in February.

Berry’s injury is the latest in a series of hardships. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and missed the last ten games of that regular season, but recovered to play the full 2015 season and reach the Pro Bowl that year. Berry also missed 15 games in 2011 following a torn ACL.

“I’m on a bit of a low right now,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “I love him to death. He’s our fearless leader, and to see him go down in the first game breaks your heart.”

The Chiefs next host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 17.

In other NFL news, linebacker Vontaze Burfict signed a three-year, $38.68 million extension with the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday. The deal includes a $3.3 million signing bonus, and Burfit is set to earn an additional $7 million this season.

The extension comes amid a three-game suspension that will keep the Burfict off the field for Cincinnati until October 1 against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4. The linebacker’s ban — which stemmed from a hit he put on Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman during a preseason game last month — was reduced from five to three games on appeal.

KANSAS CITY, MO – NOVEMBER 29: Eric Berry #29 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates his teams fumble recovery at Arrowhead Stadium during the third quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills on November 29, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)