Vince Wilfork: Chiefs RBs tough to stop

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles is dealing with a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss last week's game against the Miami Dolphins. His status for Monday night's game against the New England Patriots is still up in the air.

But Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that Charles would practice Thursday.

"Yeah, I think so. He's going to practice today. We'll see how it goes," Reid said.

Whether or not Charles plays, the Patriots are preparing to face off against one of the NFL's elite running backs.

"We are preparing like [Charles] is going to play," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "If he doesn't play, he doesn't play. They didn't miss a beat last week without him, so this is a team that wants to run the football and that's what they do. They are built to run the ball. They have explosive guys at the skill positions. We have to be able to stop all of them."

If Charles doesn't play, the Patriots will have their hands full with another tough running back, Knile Davis. At 5-foot-10 and 227 pounds, Davis packs a big punch to his game while also possessing explosive speed.

"A big, strong, powerful running back that can hit you anywhere on the field. He's a bigger guy but he is fast," Wilfork said about Davis.

And if Charles plays, the Patriots have to deal with the combination of Charles and Davis, who Wilfork says are used in similar ways because both backs can do it all.

"They both run downhill. They both test the edges. They both catch the ball out of the backfield. They both block," Wilfork said. "So they are built differently but at the same time they run hard like a big back. The big guy has speed and the small guy has toughness.

"They are kind of similar when you look at them like that, but Charles, there are not too many guys faster than him. We have to do a real good job up front of playing well in the run game and pass game because they use him so much everywhere on the field."

The goal for Monday night is for Wilfork and the Patriots to contain Charles and Davis and hope that leads to a win.

"[Charles] is a hell of a back, so it's going to be another challenge for us once again this week to be able to go into somebody else's turf and try to slow that running game down, and I hope we will walk away with a W," Wilfork said.


(espn.com)