Just a couple of days before the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opener against the New England Patriots, cornerback Steven Nelson was placed on Injured Reserve with a "core muscle injury."

It's something Nelson—the third-year pro who was drafted in the third round (No. 98 overall) out of Oregon State in 2015—tried to play through during training camp and the preseason, but ultimately surgery was necessary.

At the time he was placed on IR, Nelson was immediately thought to be one of the two players the Chiefs would bring back to the active roster.

By NFL rule, teams can bring back two players off Injured Reserve—given they spend at least eight weeks on it.

On Thursday afternoon, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Nelson would return to practice this week as they prepare for Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos.

Reid stopped short of saying Nelson would be available for the game.

"He's got to go through practice and see the breaks and endurance and all those things it takes to get through a practice," Reid explained. "I think he's in pretty good shape. He did our 10-10-10 the other day and handled that OK, and that was fairly high speed, so we'll see and we'll just kind of play it by year as we go."

Reid said that everyone will practice this week, which is good sign for starting center Mitch Morse and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who are both working their way back from injury.