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CASSEL KEEPS PERSPECTIVE

August 20th – 6:00 PM

A self-described impatient person, Chiefs QB Matt Cassel still understands the importance of approaching the offensive playbook from a long-term team perspective. After playing in four series vs. Houston last Saturday and logging just five pass attempts, one might think Cassel is ready to throw it around the dome tomorrow night.

“I’m an impatient person by nature,” Cassel said. “You kind of have to be patient though because this is a process. There is a new coaching staff, new players, and as we move forward and go into the season, we still are trying to find out what our identity is going to be. So there has to be some patience there, in terms of what are we going to be.”

Patience is indeed a virtue, but that won’t cause Cassel to enter tomorrow’s game without a sense of urgency. Exhibition contest or not, Cassel and the first-team offense will look to hang points on the board regardless of what part of the offensive game plan they are working on.

“There’s always a sense of urgency, especially in preseason because you’re trying to go out there, score points and have some production,” Cassel said. “At the same time, we’re also trying to look at some things. As a coaching staff last week, I think they wanted to really run the ball and see what we can do running the ball. We’ll see what we’ll do this week. I don’t know exactly what the game plan is going to be going into the game, but we’ll find out. But there’s always a sense of urgency.”

TWO-A-DAYS STILL ON TAP

August 20th - 5:12 PM

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley revealed yesterday that breaking camp in River Falls didn’t mean the Chiefs would be breaking “camp mode.” The quote could be taken figuratively at the time, but today Haley re-confirmed his notion about moving “camp mode” back to Kansas City should be taken literally.

“What’s important to know, and what I’ve told the players, is that when we get back to Kansas City we will still be in training camp mode,” Haley said. “It will just be a change of venue is all.“

Haley has already set the schedule for next week, with two-a-days on the agenda for both Monday and Wednesday.

“We’ll continue training camp practices next week (in Kansas City) with the two-one-two-one (practice) format (two practices one day, one practice the next),” Haley said. “I think that will be an important stretch for us – this transition to home with the distractions involved that we can’t let affect us.“

The team may be leaving River Falls, but the hard work won’t be left behind.

STUDEBAKER STANDS OUT

August 20th - 3:13 PM

If you haven’t been to River Falls, you might be missing the camp that LB Andy Studebaker is turning in. Studebaker seems to be quietly turning heads one day at a time up here in the Cheese Capital. Today, his solid camp turned public as he drew the praise of his head coach.

“Andy Studebaker is a small college guy who has probably had one of the best offseasons of anybody as far as work,” Haley complimented. “You have to pull the reigns on him, because he doesn’t stop. Lifting, running, whatever it is, he is going. I just didn’t know a lot of him as a football player and I think he has a chance and he has a chance to be a really good special teams player on top of that.”

We first saw hints of Studebaker’s solid camp performance last Saturday when the second-year player from NCAA Division III Wheaton College (IL) lined up on nearly every starting special teams unit. A big boost of confidence for a young reserve trying to make the roster. 

Then, Studebaker decided he’d go ahead and make a big impact play defensively as well by teaming up for a sack with first-round pick DE Tyson Jackson. Not bad for a player seeing his first NFL time at linebacker. Studebaker is making the change from defensive end to outside linebacker this season. 

A big, strong player who can run, the Chiefs plucked Studebaker off of Philadelphia’s practice squad last November. Originally a 2008 sixth-round selection (203rd overall) of the Eagles, Studebaker saw action in six games with the Chiefs a year ago.

If Studebaker’s progression continues, we might see more from him in 2009. He’s one to watch on both special teams and defense tomorrow night at the Metrodome.

STARTERS TO GO UNTIL HALFTIME

August 20th - 1:12 PM

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said today that he expects the majority of his starters on each side of the football to play until the halfway point at Minnesota tomorrow.

“(Our starters) will probably play to the half,” Haley said. “I think that we could adjust off of that. I originally was thinking a little shorter than that, but we just had a staff meeting and I think we’ll try to go to the half with most of them. There may be a couple of exceptions depending on how many plays we have on both sides of the ball. I would say count on a half.”

Friday’s personnel plan calls for longer action than the starters saw vs. Houston last weekend. Most of Kansas City’s first-teamers played one-and-a-half quarters or less against the Texans.

Overall, it appears Haley is building his team’s stamina as they head into the third preseaon game vs. Seattle on August 29th.

“Obviously the third game is the game that everybody plays the most,” Haley explained. ”(They’ll play) through the half and into the third quarter, so you go through that process of going to the halftime which we as coaches feel is important.”

CASSEL EXCITED FOR FAVRE SHOWDOWN - PART II

August 20th - 12:30 PM

The eyes of a football nation will be on the quarterback position tomorrow evening at the Metrodome. Chiefs QB Matt Cassel may only get a small piece of the attention, mainly from the eyes of Chiefs fans, as QB Brett Favre is expected to make his Vikings debut against the Chiefs.

“People are excited about this and it brings energy to the game,” Cassel commented.

For Cassel, simply playing opposite Favre is exciting enough. The two have gone head-to-head on one other occation, when Cassel made his first-career NFL start at the N.Y. Jets on September 14th a year ago.

“I think that it is always exciting to play against a guy like Brett Favre, who’s an icon of the game” Cassel said. “Especially at the quarterback position and a guy that I grew up watching, to come back and be able to play against him again is going to be exciting.”

On that day in the Meadowlands Cassel got the better end of Favre, leading the Patriots to a 19-10 victory and turning in an 89.9 QB rating (16-of-23, 165 yards, 0 TD, 0 INTs).

“My first start ever in my NFL career was against Brett Favre,” Cassel said. “That’s pretty cool to say.”

PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS

August 20th - 10:20 AM

The Chiefs final River Falls hurrah will be a quiet one. A closed Minnesota focused walk-thru is about to begin.

Some of the focus will likely be on situational scenarios, a major point of emphasis from Haley and his staff this training camp. The Chiefs saw two key situations present themselves last weekend against the Texans with a hurry-up field goal opportunity to close the first half and a two-minute drill, down six points, with no timeouts at end the game.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

August 20th - 8:22 AM

The sight of all sights signaling the end of training camp came to campus yesterday. Four Belger semi-trucks sat idled in a row of the Hunt Knowles parking lot, signaling the end of an era. Those trucks will be loaded for the final time in River Falls today as the weight room is lifted from the Hunt Knowles hockey rink and returned to it’s permanent home at the Chiefs practice facility. Luggage, equipment and anything else non-essential to game day will also be packed into the trucks throughout the day. 

Today is a bittersweet day for many Chiefs fans, staff members and players. Excitement definitely fills the air as we near our return to Kansas City and look forward to training in nearby St. Joseph, MO in 2010, but this organization will be forever thankful for the way that River Falls has embraced this football team over the past 19 summers.

The Chiefs will hold their final practice in River Falls today on Ramer Field at 10:30 AM.

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