Insider Forum with Josh Looney - Talk it up!

DRESS REHEARSAL
September 2nd – 5:30 PM

The Chiefs don’t usually stay overnight when the team visits St. Louis during the preseason, but tonight is a bit different. The structure is brand new for this team. That includes the obvious changes to personnel at the top, all the way down to how the team stretches and handles its pregame routine. Road trips are no exception to the changes.

The Chiefs have yet to experience a true road trip under Todd Haley and the new coaching staff. When the Chiefs played at Minnesota in preseason week two, the club simply rode buses from nearby River Falls, Wisconsin the day of the game. With St. Louis being the only other opportunity to travel before the regular season opener in Baltimore, the Chiefs had no choice other than to mock a regular season travel schedule for their short trip east.

The team charter touched down in St. Louis around 4:45 this afternoon and, after a few available hours to get some dinner, the team has an evening jam-packed with meetings followed by a curfew/bed check. Tomorrow it’s all about treatment, meals and meetings…and beating the Rams of course.

SI PICKS CHIEFS SECOND
September 2nd – 2:04 PM

The annual Sports Illustrated NFL Preview issue hit newsstands today with the Chiefs projected for a second-place finish in the AFC West. Second-year T Branden Albert is the Chiefs highlighted player, with SI labeling Albert as “smart and nimble, the type of offensive lineman that Kansas City would clone if it could.“

The SI writeup also goes on to feature the Chiefs/LSU duo of defensive ends Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey, back-to-back top five draft picks. Overall, SI claims that the Chiefs are a young group that will be battle tested early in the season, before they begin the bulk of their division match-ups.

THANKS, BUT NO THANKS
September 2nd – 11:39 AM

Chiefs LB Corey Mays has quickly become a fan-favorite this preseason. The unheralded linebacker signed this offseason as an unrestricted free agent from Cincinnati has had an opportunity to showcase his talents with the first-team defense. In injury to LB Zach Thomas thrust Mays into a starting role and Mays hasn’t looked back.

Mays just keeps making plays every week. He began camp in a bit of an underdog role and plays with a high-motor and lots of passion, making him an easy player for fans to connect with. But don’t go patting Mays on the back just yet for a job well done, because he doesn’t want to hear it.

“I haven’t accomplished anything yet,” Mays said. “I don’t feel like I’ve done anything above and beyond. We haven’t played a regular season game yet and, really, it’s a tribute to the guys in front of me by allowing the linebackers to roam and make plays. Everyday is a new day, so you can’t live off yesterday.“

We now know that Mays chooses his words correctly and is humble as well. As his stock continues to rise, Mays understands that their is no secret to success other than working hard and showing up each day ready to go.

“I feel like as long as I’m showing up every day and doing what I need to do, I’ll be alright,” Mays said.

As for the final preseason game tomorrow night, Mays isn’t wrapped up on how he performs and where he will fit into the Chiefs defensive plans on Opening Day in Baltimore. Mays’ game plan is simple and team centered.

“Your mindset is the same thing every week,” Mays explained. “Execute and win a game.“

He’ll get another chance to shine tomorrow night. The only difference is that people now know who #51 is.

SNEAK PEAK - ST. LOUIS
September 2nd – 11:23 AM

As the Chiefs finish a closed-door walk-thru in preparation for tomorrow night’s game at St. Louis, let’s take a brief look at what’s going on with our cross-state rivals. It turns out that they share a lot of similarities with the Chiefs.

• Similar Situations - Like the Chiefs, the Rams also have an influx of new leadership looking to guide their franchise back to winning ways. First-year head coach Steve Spagnuolo, like Todd Haley, is formerly a highly-regarded NFL coordinator (defensive coordinator with the Giants). The Rams also replaced the duties performed by long-time executives John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt with Kevin Demoff (GM) and Billy Devaney (VP of Football Ops.) much like the Chiefs did with former GM Carl Peterson and current GM Scott Pioli. Both teams have seen large roster shakeups and both administrations are focusing on accountability and attention to detail as they move forward.
  
• Bulger Out - Just like the Chiefs, the Rams will be without their starting quarterback for the Governor’s Cup showdown. Bulger is nursing an injured pinky finger. The Chiefs will likely see the trio of QBs Kyle Boller, Brock Berlin and Keith Null lined up under center.
• Other Injuries - The injury list for the Rams isn’t quite as long as the Chiefs. FB Mike Karney (ankle), DE Leonard Little (knee) and G Richie Incognito (knee) have seen very little, if any, practice time this week. LB Larry Grant is out with a sprained knee.
  
• Wheeling and Dealing - The Chiefs aren’t the only Missouri team swinging trades. Although the NFL isn’t known for a high amount of trade activity, the Chiefs have swung multiple trades with Atlanta, New England and Miami this offseason, while the Rams got in the act yesterday by trading starting CB Tye Hill to Atlanta for a 2010 draft pick.
  
• Klopfenstein Waived - TE Joe Klopfenstein’s release yesterday didn’t come as much surprise to Rams fans as the former 2006 second-round draft pick never really caught on with the coaching staff that selected him or the new administration now leading the Rams fortunes. Locally, Klopfenstein’s name rings as bell as Big XII football fans likely remember the big tight end creating match-up problems as he roamed Folsom Field for the CU Buffs in Boulder. He concludes a disappointing three-year tenure in St. Louis that saw only 33 receptions over 48 games played. Klopfenstein’s departure shows that new Rams head man Spagnuolo, much like Haley, is all about results, not previous draft status.
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ASSISTANT SPOTLIGHT: BILL MUIR
September 2nd – 9:35 AM

Todd Haley’s decision to take the Chiefs play calling duties in addition to his responsibilities as head coach will have a direct impact on many of his assistants. Many jobs will be tweaked just a bit as Haley transitions his duties towards the betterment of the football team.

Offensive quality control coach Nick Sirianni and assistant general manager Joel Collier have already picked up extra duties, pitching in during quarterback drills when Haley needs to focus attention elsewhere during practice. That’s just one example of many. Another man who will be heavily relied on for assistance this season is offensive line coach Bill Muir.

“Last year, even as a coordinator, I leaned heavily on (them),” Haley said. “I will lean heavily on Coach Muir - a guy with so much experience and game experience.“

Muir is one of the most interesting assistant coaches on the Chiefs staff. The man is a wealth of football knowledge, owning 44 years of coaching expertise. He most recently spent the past seven seasons as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach under Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay. His coaching background spans across three different professional leagues (ever heard of the Continental League?) and multiple levels of of the collegiate game. He’s been a mainstay in the NFL since 1978.

Muir has won a Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator (XXXVII), churned out multiple 1,000-yard backs and seen his quarterbacks re-write franchise record books. He’s also constructed some of the NFL’s best offensive fronts over the past three decades - many from scratch. He’s been described as an offensive artist, astute thinker and an in-depth game planner that leaves nothing to chance. He provides plenty of assets to offer Haley.

“It’s no different than last year when I leaned on people,” Haley said. “Even as a head coach I’m leaning on guys on defense and on offense helping me make a decision. That’s where staff continuity comes into play.“

Haley has said that he will hold more group meetings and film reviews than most NFL teams are accustomed to doing. It’s all about being on the same page as a coaching staff first, and trickling that continuity down to the players.

“We have to be together and that’s why we meet together, watch tape together, which a lot of staff’s don’t do,” Haley explained. “They break up because it’s faster. We watch it together because we are going to be together.”

VICTORY STILL PRIORITY
September 2nd – 6:11 AM

As the Chiefs travel across the state of Missouri this afternoon to take on intrastate rival St. Louis on Thursday night, an easy attitude to carry along would be “let’s just get through this.” Kansas City is battling its longest injury list to date this preseason, and opening weekend is just a week-and-a-half away.

But for head coach Todd Haley the focus never shifts from improving and learning to win football games. Preseason finale or not, it’s still about victory tonight.

“Every week is pressure,” Haley said. “I’ve learned that through the years. You might have the greatest win you’ve ever felt on the Sunday before and the next Sunday you feel how the heck are we ever going to pull this off. Every week feels that way to me. That feeling hasn’t changed and that’s just how you’re made up. Some people get comfortable, some people don’t. I’ve never been comfortable.”

Another thing that Haley hasn’t been comfortable with is the Chiefs offensive unit. He made the decision to take over play calling duties Monday morning, an effort to right a key element of this football team before the calendar finds the days that games count.

“Todd is going to do things his way,” RB Larry Johnson said. “He feels that his decision will put us in a better position to win.”

The last time that a Haley-led offense visited St. Louis (11/2/08), the Cardinals rolled to a 34-13 blowout victory that produced 510 yards of total offense (176 rushing, 334 passing). But this is a new team with new players. There will be a learning curve adjusting to Haley’s offensive philosophy tomorrow night in St. Louis.

“One thing he talked about to us was keeping it up-tempo,” QB Tyler Thigpen said. “That’s one thing that we have to look forward to as an offense, keeping the tempo up and moving the ball downfield.”

“When I get offensive-minded I think up-tempo,” Haley said. “We should be fast from the huddle up to the line. The ball should get snapped very quickly. The guys should be running around. That’s what I expect.”

The Chiefs are still searching for a win, Todd Haley is making his play calling debut with Kansas City and tomorrow night is the final opportunity for players to state their case for a spot on this football team. For Thigpen, this game is a big one, preseason or not.

“I think it’s huge,” Thigpen said. “We lost the first three, obviously, so we need to get a win to put us on the right foot heading into the regular season.”

Brodie Croyle will get first stab at quarterback on Thursday, but Thigpen will likely also see plenty of time as he continues to battle for depth chart position. With QB Matt Cassel’s Opening Day status still uncertain, and Haley yet to declare a number two quarterback, this game is big for Thigpen from an individual perspective as well.

“I’m not going out there to try to prove anything,” Thigpen said. “I’m just trying to go out there and play my game. I think that when you press yourself, that’s when you tend to make mistakes. Right now my goals are to just go out there, stay in my game and lead the offense to score some points.”

Perspective would say that Thursday is just another exhibition game. Reality in the Chiefs world makes it much more.