Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid announced that Jamaal Charles is not yet ready to carry for them at every opportunity an impressive showing in their 26-10 win over Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
Even though Jamaal Charles rushed for 33 yards in nine carries while scoring his first touchdown of the season, Chiefs are cautious with him. In fact, this is because Charles is still working his way back from a second torn anterior cruciate ligament. Coach Reid emphasized that 229-pound Spencer Ware out-touched Jamaal Charles 26 to 11 and had more snaps, 40 to 15, according to KANSAS.com.
However, Reid noted that Charles had more carries against the Raiders than he did in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, where he played 10 snaps. He described Jamaal Charles' attitude from the start of the game was awesome, always wanting to be given the ball. Reid added that Jamaal Charles ran hard, did not shy away from contact, and came out of the game feeling good and wanting more.
Other than Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs also have one of the better-running backs in the NFL in Ware, who constantly gets an extra 3-4 yards than other backs, SB Nation observed.
With Charles getting better, Knile Davis became expendable and was traded by the Chiefs to the Green Bay Packers for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2018. The trade saved the Chiefs about $700,000 with the Packers assuming the rest of Davis' $675,000 base salary, Kansas City.com reported.
There were four running backs in the Chiefs' rotation: Jamaal Charles, Ware, Charcandrick West, and Davis. Davis fell out of the Chiefs' primary running back rotation last season.
Meanwhile, the Packers, 3-2, are hurting at running back. Their starter Eddie Lacy is hobbled by an ankle injury while James Starks suffered a knee injury that will keep him out of action for several weeks.
