Chiefs’ GM says Jamaal Charles ‘important piece’ moving forward

Chiefs general manager John Dorsey reiterated Thursday that star running back Jamaal Charles will remain in Kansas City this season.

“He will be an important piece of this team moving forward,” Dorsey said.

The way the Chiefs performed in 2015 without Charles — they went 11-2 after he sustained a ACL injury in week five — caused some, like Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk, to wonder how long they should keep Charles.

But Dorsey reiterated that Charles remains ahead of schedule in his rehab.

“Before I left to come here to Indianapolis, I saw Jamaal down there diligently working in the training room, and all of a sudden I come back down stairs and he’s in the weight room,” Dorsey said. “I think he’s far enough ahead in the process here which is good, it’s good for everybody.”

Still, Dorsey praised the work of young backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, who combined to rush for 10 touchdowns and a 4.5 yards-per-carry average last season.

“Jamaal (Charles) is a great football player, but you have to applaud those two young guys for what they did,” Dorsey said. “When you lose a player the magnitude of Jamaal (Charles) and those two young guys step up with what they did, they competed and they played hard and at the end of the day, it was good for everybody.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ GM says Jamaal Charles ‘important piece’ moving forward."