KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry was on the field for every one of San Diego’s 73 offensive plays on Sunday. He was one of two Chiefs defensive players to go the whole way, with linebacker Derrick Johnson being the other.

That puts Berry, who didn’t participate in training camp or play in the preseason, ahead of where he was last season. Even though he was a consistent participant at camp last year and played in the preseason, Berry didn’t start the 2015 regular-season opener against Houston -- he was a backup, in the lineup for about half of the Texans’ offensive plays.

Eric Berry played all 73 defensive snaps for the Chiefs on Sunday against the Chargers. Scott Winters/ICON Sportswire

Berry didn’t move into the starting lineup and become a full-timer last season until Week 2 against Denver.

The fact that Berry is a full-time player right off the bat this season is good news for the Chiefs, particularly after a summer that for him looked lost from a football standpoint. Berry’s situation is far different from last summer, when he was returning to football after months of cancer treatments. This year, he’s healthy but didn’t sign his contract and rejoin the Chiefs until days before the final preseason game.

The Chiefs need him more than ever. One starting linebacker, Josh Mauga, is out for the season. Another, Justin Houston, won’t be back until the middle of the season at the earliest. A third, Tamba Hali, is being limited in his playing time (42 snaps on Sunday) because of sore knees. The Chiefs also have some uncertainty at cornerback, where one starter, Phillip Gaines, was in for just 51 plays against the Chargers.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he wanted to see how Berry, among others who played little or not at all in the preseason, responded this week before committing to a full workload for Sunday’s game against the Texans in Houston.

But count on Berry playing most -- if not all -- of that game also. He’s too important to the Chiefs to be a part-time player.