Holmes will not return this season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Running back Priest Holmes will not return to the Kansas City Chiefs this season, general manager Carl Peterson said Tuesday.

However, Peterson said medical tests on Holmes have been encouraging and Holmes hopes to return for the 2007 season. Tuesday was the last day on which the Chiefs could have activated Holmes.

The three-time Pro Bowler, who turned 33 last month, has not played since Oct. 30, 2005, when he was injured on a hit by Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman in a game at San Diego.

He missed the last nine games of the season, after missing the last eight games of the 2004 season with a knee injury. He has appeared in all 16 games of a season only four times since breaking into the NFL in 1997.

-- The Associated Press