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Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles said a month ago that he was targeting training camp for his return to the field from the torn ACL he suffered in Week Five last season.

That timeline might have changed in the last few weeks. The team starts their final phase of offseason work next week when they hold their first organized team activity and the team’s website quotes coach Andy Reid as saying that Charles will be a limited participant during OTAs.

Limited can mean a variety of things, so we’ll have to see how things play out when the Chiefs do move into that phase of their work. Anything that Charles is able to do now should improve the chances that he’ll hit the ground running when training camp does open this summer.

Cornerback Philip Gaines, linebacker Justin Houston and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin are three other key players returning from injuries who the Chiefs will be monitoring and managing over the coming weeks and months. It’s not clear when they’ll be back, but having all four on the field would help the Chiefs’ chances of a return visit to the postseason.