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Eric Berry returns to Chiefs, expected to practice Monday

That stuff had consumed enough time the past six months.

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After a lengthy holdout, Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry will be back on the field. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because he was not authorized to discuss Berry’s plans publicly. With the Chiefs front seven dinged up at the moment, Berry’s return is most certainly welcomed. The Chiefs travel to face the Chicago Bears on Saturday for their third preseason game.

“I’ve always got the itch to play, ” he said.

“Regards to what happened in the off-season, that’s the off-season”.

Both sides had until July 22 to come to terms on a new long term deal, but once the deadline passed the only option for Berry to play in 2016 was in signing the one-year tender.

Berry won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award last season after undergoing chemotherapy in the offseason. “I felt like we got in a lot of different situations – the goal line, short yardage, red zone, got a little two-minute today”.

Berry will need to sign his $10.8 million franchise tender in order to formally join the team. Reid said Berry should be ready for the first game of the season, even if he misses preseason games.

The 27-year-old Berry played in all 16 games (15 starts) last season, recording 61 tackles and two interceptions. “We’re looking forward to having him back with the team”. “Any time you let guys go who you see out there busting their butt, this isn’t the best part of the job”. “It’s good to have him back”.

Alex Smith was one of the first players to see Berry when he walked through the door, the quarterback welcoming him with open arms.

Meanwhile at the luncheon Friday, the crowd stood to applaud Berry’s courageous return from lymphoma a year earlier.

“I tried to tailor things toward the way practice is structured and the way the game is structured, ” he said. When it’s time to play, they just play.

That’s welcome news to a Chiefs defence that has been uneven in the preseason.

The Chiefs continued to list Berry as the starting safety on the depth chart.

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“We were disappointed to not being able to reach a long-term contract with Eric”, Hunt said at training camp when asked about the stalemate in contract negotiations.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry speaks to the media after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough Mass. A person familiar with Berry's plans tells The Ass