Jamaal Charles injury: Chiefs RB leaves practice with foot strain

Charles did not practice Tuesday, but all the indicators are positive: there’s no injury to his Lisfranc, his X-rays turned up negative, and he’s not limping, wearing a boot or a cast. Two orthopedists reviewed the injury and said there’s nothing structurally wrong, and he could be back in pads by Wednesday. There’s no word on his status for Friday’s preseason game against San Francisco, but the Chiefs would be well within their rights to keep him out of the game for precautionary reasons.

SB Nation’s Chiefs blog Arrowhead Pride has been on top of the injury suffered Monday, which caused the running back to be carted off the field. However, the “carted off” bit was somewhat of a false scare. All players are carted off the field at Chiefs training camp, because otherwise they’d have to walk up a big hill to get to the training center, so it’s not an indicator of serious injury as it is at other camps.

Little concrete information is known about the injury at this point. Though X-rays were negative, an MRI could reveal more.

In an interview on Sirius XM radio, general manager John Dorsey said that “everything is good” regarding Charles, and the team is being “precautionary.” However, according to Joel Thorman at Chiefs blog Arrowhead Pride, what the Chiefs say may not be a true indication of Charles’ current status.

Charles is a pivotal part of the Chiefs’ offense. Though he has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, he remains one of the most effective running backs in the NFL. Charles averaged a career low 5.3 yards per carry last season, yet had the third highest YPC among rushers with at least 200 carries. For the year, he finished with a career-best 1,509 yards rushing on 285 carries with five rushing touchdowns.

The Chiefs will play their second preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Friday night. Charles may sit as a result of the injury, though he might not have seen much playing time anyway given his established spot atop the depth chart.

At this time, there are no further details as to how Charles was injured and how severe the issue is. Should Charles have to miss any real time, this would be a huge blow to the Chiefs. As Arrowhead Pride pointed out, most players get carted off the field this time of year for almost any injury, even cramps.

Under new head coach Andy Reid, Charles is expected to be the focal point of the West Coast system as a receiver and runner out of the backfield for Alex Smith.