KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Playing in his first game in more than a season and a half, safety Eric Berry led his team in the first half with six tackles, and the Kansas City Chiefs took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Berry didn't play in the second half, however, and the Chiefs collapsed, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and losing 29-28 to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Berry said afterward he wasn't pulled from the game because he aggravated his heel injury but because it was the plan he created with coach Andy Reid for his return.

"We just wanted to be smart about the whole situation," said Berry, who missed the first 13 games this season because of a heel injury. "We came in with a plan and we just stuck with it. We didn't want to push it past that. That was between me and [Reid]. We just talked about it and felt I was good where I was at."

Berry also missed the final 15 regular-season games plus one in the playoffs last season because of a torn Achilles tendon.

He gave the Chiefs a boost while he was in their lineup Thursday night.

"I thought he did OK," Reid said. "There were a couple he'd want back. ... He hasn't played, he hasn't had pads on since training camp. That was only for a couple of days. It was kind of expected [to take it] nice and slow. We didn't expect him to play the whole game.

"He had his reps in that first half and we just kind of backed off. We were going to see how he felt as we went. He gave us some good snaps."

Asked why he returned this week to play against the Chargers rather than earlier in the season, Berry said, "I just felt right this week. Just sitting around and talking to my parents and talking to the coaches and the staff, I just felt like this was a good time to come in and get something going.

"I probably could have come back last week. But it was still that hesitation, I guess. I didn't feel it in my spirit, so I just said I'll wait until this week. Just trusting my instincts, just listening to it and staying true to that. Obviously, I wanted to be out there in the second half, but like I said, we came in with a plan and we stuck to it."