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HALEY KEEPS TEAM ACTIVE IN THE AFTERNOON

August 17th - 7:58 PM

It was a true test in River Falls today for the Chiefs as head coach Todd Haley had his team back in two-a-day action just a day after the preseason opener. This morning’s session was a fast paced, up-tempo affair highlighted by a competitive goal line period that saw game-like effort.

The real test of the day came in the afternoon, however, as game-worn bodies likely began to feel the gameday/training camp grind. Haley made sure his team didn’t let up though, preaching effort for the majority of practice.

In the end, the two-minute period produced two of the finer plays we’ve seen this camp - one defensive, one offensive, see below - and it was clear that this team is ready to get back to work. Tomorrow brings another day of practice as we count down to the Chiefs second preseason contest at Minnesota on Friday.

PM PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS

August 17th - 4:37 PM

We’re back at it this afternoon with the same drill its been all of camp - shoulder pads and helmets in the PM.

5:37 PM - Kickoff coverage emphasis for special teams this afternoon. No additions or subtractions on participation from this morning.

5:45 PM - These kick drills might as well be a conditioning test of their own. Line after line, whistle after whistle, full speed ahead.

5:48 PM - “If you want to make this football team, you have to be able to cover kicks.” - Coach Haley addressing players fighting for jobs on the special teams.

5:59 PM - Coach Haleys is really preaching “hustle and want” today - finishing plays on offense, competing for the football and pursuing defensively.

6:06 PM - WR Terrance Copper turns in the play of the day during red zone 7-on-7, catching a fade in the right corner of the end zone for a TD. Copper punched both feet down just before the chalk and was heavily covered by CB Brandon Flowers (who has been very tough to catch footballs against this camp).

6:26 PM - Two-minute drill work on the competitive team portion of practice. This drill was put to work not once, but twice against Houston.

6:32 PM - CB Maurice Leggett narrowly missed making a great INT during red zone 7-on-7, but he more than made up for it in two-minute work as he made a one-handed dunk-like leaping grab (only way i know how to describe it) in a deep zone drop.

6:35 PM - The offense comes right back with one of the better offensive plays of camp - QB Brodie Croyle on a 55-yard scoring bomb to WR Mark Bradley. Bradley got loose on a post, caught the throw in stride and motored past everybody.  

CHIEFS WON’T SCHEME FOR VIKINGS

August 17th - 3:40 PM

Training camp is about learning and perfecting the basics, especially when everything is new. NFL teams rarely roll out an oppenent-specific game plan for the first few preseason games and the Chiefs don’t plan on being the exception this Friday at the Metrodome.

“I think there’s always that temptation,” head coach Todd Haley said of loading the playbook with opponent-specific plays in the preseason. ”But on a short week where we’re still actually installing offense and to go over on the game plan portion could get you in trouble. You could just have information overload if nothing else and then you’re unable to evaluate the guys because a guy may not just be able to handle it mentally.“

Longtime NFL long snapper Kendall Gammon told me that the majority of the teams he played on would scheme opponents very little during the preseason. He did say, however, that scheming would begin to take place a bit during the fourth and final exhibition game as coaches would want somewhat of a dress rehearsal for the regular season.

Right now Haley and his staff are busy installing their base offensive and defensive schemes during each practice period. Game planning could be around the corner, but focusing on the bread and butter appears to be the spotlight in River Falls.

LELIE ADDS DEEP THREAT TO CHIEFS ARSENAL

August 17th - 2:28 PM

Ashley Lelie is the prototypical NFL wide receiver that comes out of Hawaii. He has the ability to make those ridiculous circus-like catches that make you raise an eyebrow. Oh, and he’s fast. Really, really fast.

“He’s a little different than anything we have,” Haley said of Lelie. “He’s a long, lean guy with some speed, with some potential top end speed.”

Lelie has bounced around a bit since he was Denver’s first-round pick (19th overall) in 2002. The Chiefs are his fourth team in four years (Atlanta - 2006, San Francisco - 2007, Oakland - 2008), but Lelie will have an opportunity to stick around Kansas City as he joins a position group that contains 10 players competing for seemingly wide open roster spots.

The newest Chief was on the practice field this morning, but it was easy to see he was still getting acclimated with his new playbook. He’ll also soon realize that his new head coach expects his wideouts to do more than just catch the football.

“We’ve got to accelerate him by spending extra time with him which we have and will,” Haley said of the learning curve that lies ahead for Lelie. “In between meetings he’s going to have to do double duty to kind of get caught up to get integrated into the offense and understand what’s going on.” 

BATTLE FOR RETURN POSITIONS TO GET CROWDED

August 17th - 12:53 PM

Head coach Todd Haley indicated after today’s AM practice that more players will get a look for return positions on special teams. WRs Rodney Wright and Quinten Lawrence handled both punt and kickoff return duties on Saturday, while RB Dantrell Savage also logged a kickoff return.

“The return game has got to improve,” Haley commented. “We’re going to change some guys up this week. We’ve got some other guys getting a shot because we’ve got to find somebody who will take it up in there. We had a couple blocked up front that had a chance for a big return.”

Just who will these new players be? There are a number of guys who have lined up deep to catch kicks over the course of camp, but Wright and Lawrence have received the most looks over the first two weeks of camp and in Saturday’s game.

Candidates who could see more looks may be WR Terrance Copper, RB Jamaal Charles, RB Jackie Battle and CB Maurice Leggett, who took reps throughout OTAs this offseason. CB Ricardo Colclough owns over 1,000 kickoff return yards and over 500 punt return yards over his career, but he hasn’t returned a kick since 2006. In addition to those players are a number of guys who have stayed after practice for reps on the jugs machine (mainly receivers and cornerbacks).

It will be interesting to see who gets the most looks throughout this week of practice leading up to the Minnesota game on Friday. We’ll keep you posted.

THE FILM DOESN’T LIE

August 17th - 11:58 AM

Now that head coach Todd Haley and his staff have had time to break down the game tape of Kansas City’s first preseason game, the coach can give us a little more insight into his overall opinion of the team’s first time out.

“It’s never quite as bad as you thought,” Haley said today. “But it’s never quite as good as you thought either.”

Haley went on to say that he was most encouraged by the third-down defensive performance, holding Houston to 2-of-13 (15%) on third down efficiency.

“I thought our third down defense was excellent other than that one drive,” said Haley.

In fact, when you break down the game, the Chiefs led in nearly every statistical category - first downs 18-16, total yards 307-280, Rushing yards 115-107, Passing Yards 192-173, Punting average 48.2-40.4, etc.

One of the facets of the game that the Chiefs didn’t win, however, was the turnover battle. Unfortunately that statistical category is likely the most critical of all. The Chiefs fumbled four times and threw one pick, which ultimately resulted in three turnovers. The Texans, on the other hand, didn’t commit a giveaway.

“The turnovers are probably what had me down in the tank the most,” Haley said. “You can’t make those mistakes and expect to win.”

AM PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS

August 17th - 9:22 AM

Special teams work to start, so it’s hard to count numbers by position, but some noteworthy returners today include: S Dajuan Morgan and G Wade Smith. QB Tyler Thigpen is on the field, but not in full pads and new signee WR Ashley Lelie is wearing #17.

9:33 AM - Positional drills have begun and there are only four players not participating today - Thigpen, G Tavares Washington, RB Kolby Smith and LB Zach Thomas.

9:34 AM - Another interesting note was T Barry Richardson taking first-team reps at right tackle during walk-thrus. Let’s see if he’s with that group during 11-v-11 work.

10:04 AM - Just overheard in the stands after K Ryan Succop booted his first three field goals from 40, 42 and 49 yards - “Wow, he makes it look so easy…I can’t believe he’s a rookie.” It looked like Succop’s only miss was from 53 yards.

10:27 AM - The tight ends of joined the one-on-one blocking drills between the offensive and defensive linemen. This is an excellent (and difficult) opportunity for these guys to one-on-one with d-ends. Offensive line coach Bill Muir is chiping in which a few coaching tips for that group as well.

10:33 AM - Team periods have begun and Richardson continues to work with the first-team offense at right tackle. To my knowledge, this is his first practice working with this group during camp.

10:40 AM - DE Tyson Jackson and DT Ron Edwards pair nicely to blow up a lead draw…good to see Jackson meshing well with interior linemen and backers.

10:50 AM - New WR Ashley Lelie is a tough guy to differentiate from another newer receiver, Amani Tommer. Both of these guys have the tall, lean build and are the only to receivers wearing numbers in the teens.

10:55 AM - RB Larry Johnson may not have gotten many game reps this past Saturday, but he is treating goal line drill as a game scenario, diving up and over the pile for a TD. We’ve seen this effort from LJ on multiple occations this camp and it’s a fun thing to watch.

10:57 AM - Offensive miscommunication on the final play of practice as CB Ricardo Colclough jumps a goal line pass and takes it 100-yards for a pick six. The defense is fired up as cool down period begins.

NEW WIDEOUT IN CAMP

August 17th - 8:45 AM

Many reports surfaced last week that the Chiefs were working out WR Ashley Lelie. The Chiefs have officially signed the veteran wideout and Lelie is expected to participate in this morning’s practice.

WR Jeff Webb was released to make room for Lelie.

BACK TO WORK

August 17th - 8:25 AM

Monday. Back to reality. For you it might be back to work after a great weekend (at Arrowhead perhaps?). For the Chiefs, it’s back to the grind of two-a-days. Gone are the lights of Arrowhead, the Arrowhead faithful and the comfy confines of home. Those have all been replaced by five-man blocking sleds, four practice fields and blue nylon matresses. Two days at home was a cruel tease, but it’s time to get back to work today in Wisconsin.

There will be lots to work on when practice begins this morning around 9:00 AM. When the horn blows, we’ll also find out a bit of post-game news. Who got knicked and who’s back in action.

Several Chiefs players appeared to get dinged-up a bit on Saturday night, although none appeared serious. Will any of those players miss time this week? On the other side of things, seven Chiefs did not participate against the Texans.

Five of those players weren’t expected to play - LB Zach Thomas, S Dajuan Morgan, G Tavares Washington, G Wade Smith and RB Kolby Smith - will any of those five be able to return this week?

Two players, who didn’t seem to have any previous injuries, also did not play on Saturday - WR Amani Toomer and QB Matt Gutierrez. Gutierrez wasn’t a surprise as he was the odd man out when head coach Todd Haley said only three of the Chiefs four QBs would see action. We’ll likely see him in action on Friday.

Toomer has a little more intrigue as he’s made some nice catches this camp and hasn’t appeared to be injured at all. Was Toomer just getting the night off or did he get knocked a bit at the end of last week?

We’ll have some immediate answers to at least a few questions early this morning in River Falls.

JACKSON: “I’M AT ABOUT 40%”

August 17th - 5:50 AM

First round pick DE Tyson Jackson signed his first NFL contract and reported to training camp in River Falls on August 7^th…exactly one week behind his fellow teammates. Physically, Jackson reported to camp in peak condition, immediately passing the team conditioning test and participating in an afternoon practice just hours after his plane touched down at Minneapolis International Airport. Mentally, however, Jackson knew he would start camp at a disadvantage.

“I’m at about 40% (of where I want to be),” Jackson estimated following Saturday night’s preseason opener vs. Houston. “It’s all just part of the growing process. I was pretty nervous and a little antsy out there. I just need to keep getting with my coaches and some of the veterans on the team to keep working on my technique and getting my hands better.”

“I will continue to work hard through the preseason and try to get better through that,” Jackson continued. “By the time the regular season gets here I expect to be at full throttle and ready to go.”

Fortunately, for Jackson, reaching 100% should come much faster than other NFL rookies sitting in similar situations. Jackson has a friend who has literally been through the exact same thing, and who is willing to help mentor the rookie. That friend also happens to be in the same position group as Jackson and was Jackson’s college roommate at LSU. That friend is 2008 first-round pick DE Glenn Dorsey.

“I’ve tried to help prepare him for the game speed and things like that,” Dorsey explains. “He’s prepared and he’s a hard worker. Anything I can do to help this transition go smoother for him and, by going through it mentally, it can help the team out.”

Dorsey went on to say that one of the biggest transitions he had to make as a rookie was preparing for the sport’s elite each and every week.

“It’s an obvious difference from college football,” said Dorsey. “You were playing against guys who were barely 19 years old and now you’re preparing for guys who might be 27 years old and going at it for a while. It’s quite a different and as soon as he gets used to it, the better off we will be.”

Jackson likely wishes that he could have a few plays back from Saturday night, but the important thing is that he was able to put his NFL debut in his pocket, evaluate it and move forward. Even at a self-described incomplete, Jackson was still part of an improved defensive pass rush on Saturday.

The half-sack he shared with LB Andy Studebaker on Saturday would have accounted for five percent of the Chiefs total from all of last season. Chiefs fans can’t wait to see Jackson settle in at the professional level and it doesn’t appear that they’ll have to wait long.

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