The long-awaited return of Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles might not be coming in Week 1.
According to Adam Teicher of ESPN, (h/t SiriusXMFantasy) it looks like Charles might not play in the season opener.
“If he plays it won’t be a lot. He certainly won’t be the starter.”
The word “if” is obviously the key here.
Per the report, Teicher said on Tuesday that Charles “has not established himself as the clear-cut No. 1 back.” This is a bit contrary to an earlier report that said Charles would receive a full workload if he returned healthy.
This is not only disheartening news for Charles but it is not exactly what fantasy football players targeting any Chiefs running back want to hear.
Charles 2015 season was cut short when he sustained a torn ACL in Week 5. However, Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West did a quite sufficient job in picking up the slack.
Kansas City’s rushing attack ranked sixth overall last season, averaging 127.8 yards per game.
Considering this success, we can see why the Chiefs are not being too quick to rush the 29-year-old Charles back into action.
When healthy, Charles is still one of the best and most-versatile running backs in the league. Hopefully, he will rebound once he hits the field.