KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs are signing Kareem Hunt to their practice squad, reuniting with a running back who first achieved stardom with them before video of him assaulting a woman led to his release, a person familiar with their decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the team had not yet announced the move.
The Chiefs brought Hunt in for a workout after Isiah Pacheco, their top running back, sustained a right ankle injury in Sunday's win over Cincinnati that could keep him out the majority of the season. They also have Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the non-football illness list for at least two more games, leaving them short-handed at the position heading to Atlanta this weekend.
Undrafted rookie Carson Steele and journeyman Samaje Perine are expected to get the majority of snaps, though the Chiefs also have Keaontay Ingram and Emani Bailey that they could promote from the practice squad to provide some depth.
That is where Hunt is likely to reside for at least a couple of weeks, until he learns enough of the playbook to contribute.
The Chiefs drafted him in the third round in 2017 out of Toledo, and he immediately made an impact, running for a league-high 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie. He came back the following season, the first with Patrick Mahomes as the starter at quarterback, and ran for 824 yards and seven touchdowns through the first 11 games.
In late November, video surfaced that showed Hunt shoving a woman to the ground and kicking her in the hallway of a Cleveland hotel. The Chiefs released him, though no charges were filed when the woman stopped cooperating with authorities.
The Browns signed him in February, and Hunt served an eight-game suspension at the start of the 2018 season for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy. He went on to run for for 179 yards and two touchdowns and caught 37 passes for 285 yards and another score, earning a two-year, $13.25 million contract extension to remain a part of the Cleveland backfield.
Hunt missed part of the 2021 season with a calf injury and fell behind Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford in the rotation, and he did not re-sign with Cleveland after last season. He wound up spending five years there, running for 2,285 yards and five TDs.
The Chiefs are chasing a record third consecutive Super Bowl title this season. They opened with a 27-20 win over Baltimore that came down to an incompletion by the Ravens in the end zone on the final play of the game. Then on Sunday, they rallied to beat the Bengals 26-25 when Harrison Butker kicked a 51-yard field goal with no time left.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco, right, runs with the ball as Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt (57) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid talks to the media after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 26-25. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
FILE - Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (27) scores a touchdown ahead of Los Angeles Rams free safety Lamarcus Joyner (20) as Chiefs offensive guard Cameron Erving (75) looks on during the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Nov. 19, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
LONDON (AP) — The father of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in England fled to Pakistan and called U.K. police from there to say he had killed her, a jury heard Monday.
Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at London's Central Criminal Court accused of Sara Sharif's murder alongside his partner, Beinash Batool, and brother, Faisal Malik.
Opening the trial, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said all three defendants had played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara in the weeks leading to her death.
Police found Sara's body under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, southwest of London, on Aug. 10, 2023, with dozens of injuries including extensive bruising, burns and fractures. A post-mortem examination concluded she died of unnatural causes.
Emlyn Jones said the discovery was made after her father called the police from Pakistan, saying: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.” He also told the phone operator it wasn't his intention to kill her but he had “beat her up too much," the prosecutor told jurors.
Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik had left the U.K. for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on Aug. 9.
Police in Pakistan found the three suspects after an extensive search and put them on a flight to the U.K. They were arrested upon arrival at London’s Gatwick Airport and held in prison to await trial.
Emlyn Jones said all three had lived in the same house as Sara and that it was “inconceivable” that just one of them had acted alone.
He alleged that each of the suspects sought to point the finger at the others. He said Sharif's case was that Batool, Sara's stepmother, was responsible for the girl's death, and he made a false confession to protect her.
The jury heard a recording of a phone call made on the evening of Aug. 8, 2023, the day Sara was believed to have died, in which Batool could be heard asking about booking a flight to Islamabad for four adults and four children.
The trio deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial is expected to continue until December.
FILE - This court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook shows Sara Sharif's father Urfan Sharif, right, and her uncle Faisal Malik appearing via video-link, from Belmarsh prison, at the Old Bailey in London, Dec. 14, 2023 as three members of her family have pleaded not guilty to her murder. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP, file)