LT Eric Fisher, QB Chad Henne Return to Practice for Chiefs; DE Frank Clark Sits with Neck Injury

Henne can't return to active roster until after Week 8, but his return to practice starts 21-day clock where he can work with team without counting against active roster

Author:
Matt Derrick
Updated:
Oct 23, 2019 6:06 PM EDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The return of Patrick Mahomes to practice on Wednesday overshadowed left tackle Eric Fisher and quarterback Chad Henne also hitting the practice field while defensive end Frank Clark sat out with a neck injury.

Fisher returned to the field in a limited role for the first time since undergoing surgery for a core muscle injury on Sept. 19.

“He's going to give it a whirl out there likewise and see how he does,” head coach Andy Reid said before practice Wednesday.

Frank Clark did not practice on Wednesday with a neck issue. The team didn't report an injury with Clark coming out of Thursday's win at Denver.

“His neck has been acting up a little bit, so he won't practice, try to get that to settle down a little bit,” Reid said.

Wide receiver Sammy Watkins was also among the participants at practice. The team listed Watkins as limited on last week's injury report in returning from a hamstring injury that kept him out of team's last two games. He was listed as a full participant.

“Again, he's like the others,” Reid said. “They've been moving around well enough to get out there to practice, then we'll just see how all that goes. I kind of put him in that group with these guys that are practicing that have been banged up.”

Clark joined five other Chiefs that did not practice on Wednesday, including left guard Andrew Wylie (ankle), cornerback Kendall Fuller (thumb) defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon and linebacker Darron Lee (illness).

Reid had signaled defensive tackle Chris Jones (groin) could return to the field on Wednesday as well. During the portion of practice open to the media, however, Jones was on the sidelines as an observer without a helmet.

The return of Henne to practice comes as a bit of a surprise. Henne suffered a broken ankle in the team's preseason game against San Francisco on Aug. 24. The club placed Henne on injured reserve beginning the season with the possibility of returning.

Henne can't return to the active roster until after the team's Week 8 game against Green Bay. But the club designating him to return from injured reserve starts a 21-day clock during which he can work with the team and doesn't count against the 53-player active roster. If the club doesn't activate Henne during the next three weeks, he will remain on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Chiefs Injury Report

Did not practice: DE Frank Clark (neck), DT Chris Jones (groin), LG Andrew Wylie (ankle), CB Kendall Fuller (thumb), DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (illness) and LB Darron Lee (illness)
Limited participation: QB Patrick Mahomes (knee) and LT Eric Fisher (groin)
Full participation: WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring), FB Anthony Sherman (hamstring) and OL Martinas Rankin (ankle)