Alex Smith will be out for Week 17 with a lacerated spleen.

The San Diego Chargers need a win at the Kansas City Chiefs to reach the playoffs. The Chiefs are still mathematically alive, but would need considerable help to reach the playoffs.

Chase Daniel will instead start for the Chiefs.

“It wasn’t until after I dressed and adrenaline wore off that I noticed anything. I didn’t relate it to a hit,” Smith said.

Eric Berry has Hodgkin's lymphoma, his doctor said Monday following further testing.

"This is a diagnosis that is very treatable and potentially curable with standard chemotherapy approaches," Dr. Christopher Flowers, a lymphoma specialist at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, said in a statement released through the Chiefs. "The goal of Mr. Berry's treatment is to cure his lymphoma and we are beginning that treatment now."

Berry, 25, is from the Atlanta area and has chosen Emory for his treatment. He also released a statement through the Chiefs.

"My family and I are very grateful for the amount of support we have received over the last couple of weeks. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes," the statement read. "I want to thank the Emory University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Flowers and his team, for all of their hard work and effort in diagnosing and creating a plan for me to battle this thing.

"I will embrace this process and attack it the same way I do everything else in life. God has more than prepared me for it. For everyone sharing similar struggles, I'm praying for you and keep fighting!"

The Kansas City Chiefs and offensive coordinator Doug Pederson want to get the ball in the hands of Jamaal Charles more frequently.

"We as a staff, and me as a coordinator, I have to allow him to touch the football as often as we can," Pederson said, per The Kansas City Star. "You look at the stat sheet and look at the targets and the number of touches that guys get, and then you go back and say, 'Oh, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that, or more of this or less of that,' after the game, win or lose."

Charles saw just 10 handoffs during the Chiefs' loss to the Denver Broncos.

The Arizona Cardinals tried to trade for Alex Smith in 2013, but the San Francisco 49ers "quickly" rejected their efforts.

While Bruce Arians wanted to work with Smith, the Cardinals traded for Carson Palmer.

The 49ers ultimately traded Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs, who will play the Cardinals this week.