Charvarius Ward Returns to Chiefs Practice
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward returned to practice on Thursday after missing Week 2 with a broken hand suffered in the team's season-opening game against the Houston Texans.
Ahead of Thursday's practice, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Ward would "get out there, move around, and they'll see how he does."
Nate Taylor of The Athletic tweeted confirmation that Ward took the field, wearing "some form of a mitt on his hand."
Ward cannot return soon enough for the Chiefs, as they are still without fellow starting corner Bashaud Breeland due to a four-game suspension, and defensive back Antonio Hamilton left Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers with a groin injury, though Reid didn't mention Hamilton among the players who would be held out of Thursday's practice.
As for the remaining cornerbacks who took snaps on Sunday, rookie L'Jarius Sneed and second-year player Rashad Fenton, Reid said they held their own against the Chargers.
“You know what, they were respectable I thought," Reid said on Monday. "You know, obviously L’Jarius Sneed had the interception but Fenton, I thought he did a good job too. I thought the guys worked well. There's some things that they can take out of it and learn from, but I thought they did a good job.”
Ahead of Monday's game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs could certainly use Ward's return to bolster a defense that gave up 311 yards and 9.4 yards per attempt to rookie QB Justin Herbert in his NFL debut.
As for the rest of the Chiefs' top injury concerns, Reid said that wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who is in the concussion protocol, would not practice on Thursday, along with defensive end Alex Okafor, who is out with a hamstring issue. Defensive end Frank Clark and running back Darrel Williams left the Chiefs' game against the Chargers but were slated to practice, at least partially, on Thursday.
