Chiefs tackle Donald Stephenson returns, eager to get on field

Donald Stephenson sat on a chair in front of his locker Wednesday, chatting about the Royals’ AL Wild Card Game win the night before. As the only Kansas City native in the locker room, the big right tackle is uniquely positioned to understand the meaning of the game to hometown fans.

Stephenson was in the middle of explaining this when cornerback Chris Owens spotted him from the hallway, jogged to Stephenson’s stall near the doorway and extended his hand.

“Hi, I’m Chris,” he said with a straight face.

Stephenson just laughed. This is the type of ribbing he’d been getting for the better part of two days, ever since he returned from a four-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

The suspension of Stephenson, which was announced two weeks before the Chiefs’ season opener, threw the offensive line for a bit of loop.

A group that then lost its starting left guard (Jeff Allen) to a season-ending biceps injury in the first regular-season game was also without its starting right tackle for the first month of a season, a tortuous stretch that included games against AFC Championship Game finalists Denver and New England.

Stephenson, who played in all 16 games last season as a valuable swing tackle, said the reality of his situation hit home in the Chiefs’ 26-10 season-opening loss to Tennessee, in which the offense struggled to move the ball.

“I was sitting at home and I obviously wanted to be out there, so it was tough,” said Stephenson, who was not allowed to work out with the team while he was suspended. “I thought the guys played their butts off. They fought hard. It was tough to watch.”

Things have been looking up for the Chiefs’ offense in recent weeks, however. While Stephenson worked out twice a day at a training facility in Dallas, the offense made a 180-degree turn, thanks to an efficient passing game and a power running game that was not evident against the Titans.

“For the most part, I like what I see,” Stephenson said of the offense, which ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing. “It’s fun to watch. It looks like the guys up front are having a lot of fun. It fits best what we want to do up front, and I’m glad to see it.”

At 6 feet 6 and a listed weight of 312 pounds, Stephenson — who showed flashes of being a very good NFL run blocker last season — would seem to fit the Chiefs’ new grind-it-out style. But don’t expect him to immediately reclaim his starting job, at least according to coach Andy Reid.

“Not right now, no,” Reid said. “He’s just going to get himself back into the swing of things, and he’ll rotate in there in practice. He hadn’t done any football for a month, so we’ll let him kind of get acclimated here again.”

That might have something to do with the way the offense has fared with Stephenson’s replacement, veteran Ryan Harris. Through four games, Harris has given up two sacks, two quarterback hits and four quarterback hurries, which is the second-most on the team in each category, according to Pro Football Focus. But Reid is hesitant to tinker with an offense that is averaging 25.5 points per game, which is tied for the ninth in the league.

“Right now, that’s kind of what we’re doing,” Reid said. “Harris is the guy right now and he’s playing, and Donald will get himself back into football shape and we’ll just see how it goes.”

For Stephenson’s part, he thinks he did all he could while he was out to be able to step in and play immediately.

“I feel like I’m in shape,” Stephenson said. “I worked my butt off for the past month. So whenever they’re ready, I’m ready to go.”

Still, he later conceded that the only way to get in football shape is to play football. He regrets the suspension, which he has explained as a failure to check with the NFL, NFLPA or Chiefs’ medical team before he took a medication that requires a therapeutic-use exemption.

“I haven’t thought that far back,” Stephenson said, when asked if he would have done anything differently. “Right now, I’m worried about being ready when coach Reid calls on me.”

That’s what this week is all about for him. He reported to the facility Tuesday, the first day he could, despite it being the players’ day off. He says he got in a lift, sat in the sauna, chatted with his position coach and got reacquainted with the guys.

“I couldn’t wait to get back,” Stephenson said.

His fellow linemen were happy to see him, too. One of the first players Stephenson saw was Jeff Linkenbach, who gave him some grief for having fresh legs because he’s missed the past month. Stephenson found that amusing, much like Owens’ amusing reintroduction.

In that moment, based on his laugh, it was clear that Stephenson was happy to no longer be an outsider.

“I felt at home as soon as I got back,” he said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Chiefs tackle Donald Stephenson returns, eager to get on field."