Tag: Derrick Gore

Chiefs to place RB Derrick Gore on injured reserve

The #Chiefs placed RB Derrick Gore on injured reserve, effectively ending his 2022 NFL season.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made their two remaining roster moves ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. One move will end a player’s season before it even truly begins.

According to multiple reports the Chiefs have placed RB Derrick Gore on injured reserve. Gore, 27, signed a reserve/future contract with the Chiefs in February of 2021. He didn’t make the initial 53-man roster last season, but he was called up from the practice squad when Clyde Edwards-Helaire was injured.

Gore suffered a fractured thumb in preseason Week 2 according to Chiefs HC Andy Reid.

The move to place Gore on injured reserve prior to 53-man roster cuts means that he will not be able to be designated to return from injured reserve come the regular season. There is a way around that, though. If the Chiefs come to an injury settlement with Gore, they’re allowed to later re-sign him to the practice squad. This happened previously with Chiefs WR Gehrig Dieter during the 2019 season.

For now, however, it looks like Gore won’t be playing with the Chiefs this year. It’s a big hit to Kansas City’s running back depth as Gore was one of the team’s top pass-blocking backs and a multi-phase special teamer.

The other move made by the Chiefs was to place Lucas Niang on the Reserve/PUP list. This brings the roster down to 80 players. The next roster cuts deadline comes on Tuesday, Aug. 30th, when the team must trim its roster to 53 players.

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Chiefs RB Derrick Gore questionable to return vs. Bears with neck injury

The #Chiefs have ruled RB Derrick Gore questionable to return vs. the #Bears with a neck injury.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without one of their running backs for the fourth quarter of preseason Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.

The team has announced that RB Derrick Gore has suffered a neck injury and will be questionable to return to the game. Gore has struggled in this game so far with two carries for -2 yards. He’s also just 1-for-3 for six yards on the day on passes that have come his way. The injury occurred in the third quarter on a play when Gore was stuffed and fumbled the ball.

Frankly, outside of Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco, there hasn’t been much to get excited about in the running back room. Still, Gore is someone with some experience in the offense, who you don’t want to see injured during the course of the preseason. Tayon Fleet-Davis replaced Gore in the fourth quarter and seems to be who the team is rolling with for the time being.

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Chiefs RB Derrick Gore signed ERFA tender

A fan favorite at running back has signed his exclusive rights free agent tender with the #Chiefs.

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The Kansas City Chiefs tendered a contract offer to Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA) RB Derrick Gore back in mid-March. Gore officially signed his contract tender per the NFL’s personnel notice for Thursday, meaning he’ll be back with the team for the 2022 NFL season.

If you’re unfamiliar with ERFAs, they are veteran free agents who have yet to accrue three seasons in the NFL. Instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent that can sign with any team, their current club holds exclusive negotiating rights. If they’re tendered a qualifying contract offer by their team prior to free agency, they can’t refuse said offer to become an unrestricted free agent. They can only reach free agency if a team declines to extend a qualifying offer.

Gore caught on with Kansas City in February of 2021 when he first signed a reserve/future deal with the team. He was a standout during training camp and the preseason at the onset of the 2021 NFL season, but he didn’t make the 53-man roster outright. Gore was called up to the active roster from the practice squad when Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffered an MCL sprain in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills.

Gore stuck on the roster for the remainder of the season, recording 51 carries for 256 yards and two touchdowns. He accrued one credited season and has just one throughout his NFL career. That means he’ll earn an $825K minimum salary in 2022, should he make the 53-man roster this year. Right now, with just Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones as key players at the position, it looks like he’ll have a pretty good chance to make the 53-man roster in 2022.

Chiefs tendering ERFA RB Derrick Gore

The #Chiefs have tendered another ERFA, this time locking up RB Derrick Gore for the 2022 NFL season.

The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back another one of their exclusive rights free agents.

According to KC Star beat writer Herbie Teope, the Chiefs are tendering ERFA RB Derrick Gore for 2022. He’ll receive a one-year qualifying offer at a minimum salary for the year. This was another housekeeping move for Kansas City with the start of the NFL’s free agency signing period coming this afternoon. If the Chiefs hadn’t tendered Gore, he would have become an unrestricted free agent at 4:00 p.m. ET.

A former undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Monroe, Gore bounced around before signing a reserve/future deal with Kansas City in February of 2021. He flashed his skills during training camp, but he didn’t make the 53-man roster outright.

Gore was called up to the active roster after Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffered an MCL sprain in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills. He averaged five yards per carry with two touchdowns and 256 yards on 51 attempts throughout the season. He also averaged over 13 yards per catch in the passing game, catching 8-of-9 passes for 105 yards.

With just two running backs on the 90-man offseason roster, it makes plenty of sense to bring Gore back at such a low cost. This year, he’ll have a chance to make the 53-man roster right out of the gate and play a larger role for the team, but expect the team to continue adding depth at the position.

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Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy raves over all phases of team’s developing run game

#Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy was very pleased with what he saw from the run game in Week 8, from the blocking to the play of the running backs. | from @TheJohnDillon

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The Kansas City Chiefs were dealt a favorable hand this week with Aaron Rodgers being ruled out as of Wednesday, but their pursuit of excellence continues in earnest ahead of their matchup against Green Bay.

Of particular interest is the team’s run game, which seemed to turn a corner against the Giants on Monday, spearheaded by third-year back Derrick Gore. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy sees major potential in the ground attack moving forward, and as a former running back himself, he told reporters on Thursday about the talent accumulated on the roster this season. Speaking both of the backs and their offensive line creating holes in front of them, Bieniemy was complimentary of the unit’s performance against New York, seeming confident that they’d be able to keep momentum through the coming weeks.

“There are lanes to be found,” He said of the developing strategy on the ground. “Our guys, I thought they did a heck of a job last week. How about Darrel (Williams) doing what he did, not only as a runner, but also as a receiver out of the backfield. Then, young DG (Derrick Gore) steps in and does a heck of a job, scores his first touchdown. Our O-line is doing a heck of a job in the run game, and our guys are doing a great job of finding the seams.

“We just need to continue that, and we need to continue building off that. The good thing was that we found a way to overcome adversity last week, which you want to build upon that. So, we want to take the small necessary steps to help us to re-gain our stride—to get us back in our stride again, as Frankie Beverly & Maze would say—so we can achieve the goals that we want to achieve, because there’s still a lot of football left to be played.”

The line has struggled at times in pass protection, but to Bieniemy’s point, their efforts in blocking the running game have been second to none. Extrapolating on the line’s play through eight weeks, he stopped short of saying they were a finished product, but seemed confident in the trajectory of the unit, especially given their age and inexperience.

“These guys, we’ve got three of them, Creed (Humphrey), my man Trey (Smith) and then Lucas (Niang) who started last week, all those guys are young guys. Those guys are going to play a lot of good football together,” Bieniemy said, “We knew exactly what we were getting with those particular kids and those young men, and they’re going to continue to get better.

“The thing I love about what they do, first and foremost, the leadership that they have from the top with Coach Heck, he does a great job. Then, on top of that, the culture that is built in that room, those guys have a unique relationship and it’s fun to watch.”

Bieniemy will have his work cut out for him against the Packers’ defense this week, but has the tools to do something very special with an offense that won’t have to keep up with a future Hall of Famer on the other side. A win this weekend would put Kansas City above .500 for the first time since Week 1, and could potentially put the Chiefs in the position to get back in the AFC playoff picture before Thanksgiving.

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Chiefs RB Derrick Gore on scoring his first NFL touchdown: ‘It meant a lot’

In his third season in the league, #Chiefs RB Derrick Gore notched his first NFL touchdown. On Wednesday, he described what it meant to him. | from @TheJohnDillon

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The Kansas City Chiefs have been trying to develop a ground game since Week 1 this season, and seem to have found something promising in third-year running back Derrick Gore. A preseason standout, Gore made a big impression on fans with his toughness and ability to get downhill to pick up yards.

Seeing the first significant snaps of his career on Monday against the Giants, Gore made the most of every opportunity he had, rushing for 48 yards on 11 carries with the first touchdown of his NFL career in the win. He spoke to the media on Wednesday before practice about the performance, telling reporters that he is grateful to be in a position to put on a show.

“It meant a lot honestly,” Gore said. “I really can’t put it into words, [I am] just filled with emotions, just knowing my background, where I came from, how long it took for me to get to this point, but very thankful for the opportunity I got.”

It has been an uphill battle to get on the field in his career, especially on a team as talented as Kansas City’s, but Gore insisted that the chance he got against New York was just one step towards a broader goal.

“It’s been a long time coming honestly,” He explained of the situation he’s in now. “But [I’m] just taking it each day, one day at a time, [taking] advantage of the reps that I get, whether it’s one or seven.”

For now, though, Gore is still celebrating his success in Week 8 in his own way. Asked what he did with the ball from his touchdown last week, he told reporters he keeps it close after initially ditching it on the field after getting caught up in the moment after scoring.

“It’s in my locker right now,” Gore said. “I kind of dropped it off and Patrick [Mahomes] handed it me on the sideline and I was thankful for that.”

With the seal now broken on his first touchdown and his first signature game in the books, Gore has a big opportunity to make a big impact this week against Green Bay. If he can turn out another hefty stat line against the Packers, Gore could potentially work himself into a significant role in the offense, even once Clyde Edwards-Helaire comes back from injured reserve.

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Chiefs confident in RBs Darrel Williams, Jerick McKinnon after Clyde Edwards-Helaire injury

How will #Chiefs handle the Clyde Edwards-Helaire injury? “We’ve got 31 (Darrel Williams) and 1 (Jerick McKinnon), they’re good players,” Andy Reid said.

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The Kansas City Chiefs will be without RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire for three weeks as he recovers from an MCL sprain on the injured reserve list.

It’s a tough blow to lose Edwards-Helaire now, especially when he was just starting to get hot with back-to-back 100-yard performances in Week 3 and Week 4. Asked about the plan at the running back position, Chiefs HC Andy Reid wasted no time, evoking the “next man up” mentality that he’s utilized over the years.

Reid gave a vote of confidence to the rest of his running back room, saying they’ll be able to handle the load in the absence of Edwards-Helaire.

“We’ve got 31 (Darrel Williams) and 1 (Jerick McKinnon), they’re good players,” Reid said. “We can put (Derrick) Gore up too. He was productive during the preseason, so we have the possibility of doing that. But we have trust in the other two guys, in particular Darrel. He’s been productive for a number of years here.”

Williams, a fourth-year veteran and the longest-tenured running back on the Chiefs roster, will be the first man up in place of Edwards-Helaire. Williams joined the team as an undrafted free agent out of LSU in 2018. He has never started a regular-season game during his NFL career, but he did fill in for Edwards-Helaire during playoffs last season, earning his first career start against the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. Williams carried the ball 13 times for 78 yards and caught 4-of-4 passes for 16 yards, for what was the second-most productive game of his career.

While Williams has never rushed for over 100 yards in a single game, he’s eager for an opportunity to prove that he can be a bell-cow back for Kansas City over the next few weeks.

“That would mean a lot to me because I worked my whole life to be a starter in the league, and I finally get this chance,” Williams said. “I finally get this opportunity, and I’ve just got to make the most of it.”

Spelling Williams will be Jerick McKinnon, who started 18 games during his career with the majority of those games coming during his four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He has seldom been used in the running game by Kansas City this season, recording just one carry last week against Buffalo. He has, however, caught three passes on three targets for 27 yards.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes shared his head coach’s confidence that both Williams and McKinnon will step up in the absence of their teammate. He knows it’s in their DNA to do so.

“I think it’s just that they’ve done it before,” Mahomes told reporters of his confidence in the halfback duo. “You’ve seen these guys. Darrel (Williams) has stepped up in big spots his whole career here filling in and running strong and running tough. If you watch Jerick McKinnon’s career, he’s been a guy who’s made plays in a lot of different spots. I have trust that he’ll come in here and make plays here as well.”

There’s also Derrick Gore, the preseason standout who had 168 yards of total offense and a touchdown in the preseason. He was elevated to the 53-man roster when Edwards-Helaire was sent to injured reserve. He’ll serve as depth for now, but should he get his chance to play, watch out.

However the snaps shake out in Week 6, the Chiefs are confident that they have three capable backs who can weather the storm. They’ll lean on those players to make plays while Edwards-Helaire gets his knee right over the next three weeks.

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Chiefs sign three players to reserve/future contracts

Three more players added to the mix for the 2021 offseason in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to add pieces for the 2021 offseason roster.

According to the NFL’s official transaction report, the Chiefs have signed DB Rodney Clemons, RB Derrick Gore and DT Tyler Clark to reserve/future contracts. All three of the players visited the team recently ahead of Super Bowl LV.

Both Clemons and Clark have spent time on the Chiefs’ practice squad this season, while Gore spent time on the Chargers’ practice squad this season. Gore was among the group of seven players who first visited the team in early January.

If you’re not familiar with reserve/future signings work, they allow players to join teams prior to the beginning of the new league year. Those players won’t count against the 53-man roster at all. As soon as the new league year begins and the 90-man offseason roster is opened up, each of Clemons, Gore and Clark will be activated to the roster.

The Chiefs have now signed a total of nine players to reserve/future contracts. These three players join TE Sean Culkin, OT Prince Tega Wanogho, WR Chad Williams, WR Antonio Callaway, QB Jordan Ta’amu and QB Anthony Gordon. Clemons and Clark are the first two defensive players that the team has added.

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WATCH: QB Justin Herbert works out with Chargers running backs

The Los Angeles Chargers’ rookie quarterback is getting a head start before training camp begins.

The Chargers are days away from taking the field as a team for the first time this year as training camp is set to get underway.

One of the main attractions will be first-round pick Justin Herbert, as fans are hopeful that he can guide Los Angeles to many years of success.

In order to do so, he will have to develop chemistry with the team’s skill players. Had the coronavirus pandemic not occurred, he would have already began to do so, but the worldwide outbreak put things to a halt.

Herbert, who signed his rookie contract, got a head start before training camp starts. The 22-year old joined running backs Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley and Derrick Gore for a workout, which was streamed on Ekeler’s Twitch account.

The hour-long workout shows the group going from warmups, to working handoffs and then they finish things off by running routes with Herbert passing the ball.

Check out the full video below:

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Chargers sign RB Derrick Gore

The Los Angeles Chargers added a familiar face to the backfield.

The Chargers signed running back Derrick Gore on Tuesday, the team announced.

Los Angeles drafted RB Joshua Kelley in the fourth-round of this year’s draft to nearly solidify the backfield. But the team needed more bodies at the position for the sake of depth heading into training camp.

Gore, the undrafted free agent out Louisiana-Monroe, spent the preseason with the Chargers in 2019. He was released and was then added to the Redskins’ practice squad later that year.

Below is Los Angeles’ official team statement:

The Los Angeles Chargers today signed running back Derrick Gore.

Gore spent last season on the practice squad for the Washington Redskins and the Chargers after spending the 2019 offseason with Los Angeles. In four preseason games with the Bolts, Gore ran for 64 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts (5.3 avg.), hauled in an eight-yard reception and returned a kickoff 13 yards. He led the Chargers in rushing in the preseason finale at San Francisco, scoring the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

The first-year player finished his collegiate career at Louisiana-Monroe after transferring from Alabama. Over 43 career games, Gore ran for 1,355 yards and 13 touchdowns while catching 35 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown.