A league source tells PFT that Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles will not play against the 49ers in the Alex Smith Bowl on Friday night as a result of the foot injury he suffered earlier this week. As coach Andy Reid said on Pro Football Talk on NBCSN earlier this week, Charles would play if this were a regular season game but it isn’t and there’s not much sense risking further injury to a player who will do a lot of heavy lifting on offense for K.C. this season.
Third-round pick Knile Davis will get a chance to show off his skills in Charles’ absence with Shaun Draughn and Cyrus Gray also moving up a notch on the depth chart for this game and, it seems, the rest of the summer.
There's no point in bringing Charles back unnecessarily for a meaningless preseason games. The Chiefs know that he'll be able to do what they need him to do when the games start to count.