Chiefs cornerback Deandre Baker suffered a broken left femur in Sunday’s season-finale loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The injury, which was shown on televised replays, appeared gruesome before Baker was carted off the field on a medical stretcher.
Less than 24 hours later, however, the wonders of modern medicine provided a positive outcome.
“It’s amazing what these doctors can do today,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday. “He had a broken femur, they did the surgery and it looks like it was successful.
“He actually can do a little bit of weight-bearing on it today, which is something. If you’re going to have a break, which is brutal, but if you’re going to have one, it was clean. It fit back together perfect, they said.”
Baker originally joined the Chiefs’ practice squad on Nov. 19 and was recently elevated to the active roster for Sunday’s game.
The second-year cornerback was en route to a stellar performance, totaling five tackles, a sack, a quarterback hit and a pass defensed before he crumpled on the field early in the third quarter while covering a Chargers wide receiver down the right sideline.
There was no contact on the play when Baker went down near the Chiefs’ bench area and he received immediate attention from the team’s medical staff.
While the injury didn’t look good when it occurred, the outlook certainly looks bright.
“I think full recovery, unless there are any setbacks here, full recovery is going to be a beautiful thing for him down the road,” Reid said. “He’ll still be able to play and do the things he did before. That’s what I’m happiest about.”
Baker in all likelihood won’t be back to help the Chiefs’ quest for a repeat Super Bowl championship, but Reid’s optimism for the future is telling.
The Chiefs took a chance on Baker following his release by the New York Giants, a team that used a first-round pick on him in the 2019 NFL Draft.
But a tumultuous 2020 offseason of legal issues, which included allegations of armed robbery in May, prompted the Giants to release him in September. Charges against Baker were dropped in November, paving the way for the Chiefs to bring him in.
And once Baker is fully recovered from his injury, the Chiefs will welcome him back.
“Without being a doctor, I’m just telling you that the prognosis is good for him, which is important,” Reid said. “He was actually playing very good, so we look forward to getting him back.”
