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Wednesday, August 5: Morning Practice

The weather for the morning practice was beautiful and sunny with only a few clouds in the sky. It was 72 degrees with a wind speed of only one mile-per-hour towards the north. The humidity was 75 percent with a dewpoint of 55. Approximately 230 fans were watching practice, not including the participants from Kids’ Day.

Kids' Day

The first of two Kids' Days was held during the sixth Kansas City Chiefs practice. The event was held under the picnic area outside of Ramer Field where kids could play games, do arts and crafts and win prizes. The overall head count was near 100 kids throughout the event, which lasted from 9-11 a.m.

To begin their day, the kids and their guardians signed up for a raffle. Then, they were pointed in the direction of the face painting table and the arts and crafts area. In the large, grassy field on the east side of the restrooms, there were UWRF football gear races and a “500 Dead or Alive" game being played. These two events, along with the face painting stations, seemed to attract the most attention. As for prizes, every kid was awarded with candy, making for a very energetic morning.

Along with the activities and games, there was a raffle held at 10:15 a.m. where kids were awarded fast food gift coupons and beach balls. The food coupons were donated by McDonald's of New Richmond, Wis., Burger King of New Richmond, Wis. and Woodbury, Minn., Dairy Queen of Woodbury, Minn. and Arbys of Woodbury, Minn. In addition to the food coupons, there were also beach balls donated by TCF Bank of Woodbury, Minn. Overall there were a total of 34 prizes awarded.

Offense

Tight end Brad Cottam, guard Wade Smith and running back Kolby Smith did not participate in practice this morning. Instead, the three worked out on field 3.

During 11-on-11, quarterback Matt Cassel handed the ball off to running back Jackie Battle. Battle was able to shoot up the middle, avoiding contact with all defenders. Cassel was fired up after the play, hollering, “Yeah!” numerous times. Later, Cassel handed the ball to Battle again. Battle had another large gain, and Cassel shouted, “Woo!” At the end of the series, Cassel said, “Great series, fellas. Great (freaking) series!”

During the third-and-one situation drill, quarterback Brodie Croyle handed the ball off to running back Jamaal Charles. Charles broke free from all defenders and accelerated toward the endzone. “That’s right, Jamaal,” one of his teammates encouraged as he booked it down the field. Before the next play, a defender on the sidelines hollered, “Shut them up, D!”

Running back Larry Johnson can be seen on the practice field wearing his red socks while the rest of the team is sporting white ones. This tradition started when Johnson was at Penn State. In order to not get lost in the shuffle of the 100 or so players trying to make the roster, Johnson wore different colored socks to stand out.

Wide receiver Mark Bradley was over at the Jugs machine catching passes before practice. Bradley tried to start the drill without a helmet, but one equipment guy told him he must put it on. “It’s a team rule.”

Running back Javarris Williams continues to struggle catching the ball. Head Coach Todd Haley made a comment after Williams’ latest drop, “No balls on the ground! We’re on air!” The team was running their 6-0 drill where all six receivers get a ball thrown their way. Tight end Sean Ryan also had a drop during the session.

Quarterback Matt Cassel had two beautiful passes down the sideline during the team’s 1-on-1 drills. Cassel’s first pass hit receiver Rodney Wright in stride and over the outstretched hands of cornerback Donald Washington. The second one was another well thrown ball that hit receiver Mark Bradley in stride beating the defense. These passes came after Cassel was disappointed by the energy in the drill and told the guys to pick it up.

Quarterback Matt Cassel threw his first interception during 7-on-7. On his second round of throws Cassel was trying to get the ball to wide receiver Mark Bradley, but cornerback Brandon Carr came up with the interception. Cassel finished the drill 11-13, his most attempts in the drill thus far. The other incompletion was a pass that was a little high, but through the hands of receiver Rodney Wright. Quarterback Brodie Croyle was 4-4 in the drill completing his passes to four different receivers. Quarterback Tyler Thigpen didn’t make an appearance in the drill until the end. Thigpen was 4-4, all to different receivers.

The Chiefs ran a late-game situation in which a Hail Mary would be needed. Quarterback Brodie Croyle completed the Hail May to receiver Quinten Lawerence in the corner of the end zone from about 60 yards away. However, the drill did not favor the defense as defenders were not permitted to leave their feet to break up the pass.

Defense

Cornerback DeJuan Morgan and linebackers Demorrio Williams, Mike Vrabel and Weston Dacus spent the duration of the morning practice working out on stationary bikes and other equipment of the like on field 3.

During a linemen drill, the defensive linemen went one-on-one with the offensive linemen. The defenders were trying to break through the blocks presented by the offensive line. During the drill, defensive ends Alfonso Boone and Alex Magee jumped offsides and had to run. Also during the drill, defensive end Dion Gales wasn’t moving as fast as Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie would have appreciated. “Bust your (butt). Get up,” Krumrie hollered at the rookie.

Cornerback Ricardo Colclough had an interception of quarterback Tyler Thigpen, during the team’s 1-on-1 drills. Colclough stepped in front of a pass meant for receiver Jeff Webb.

Spending time running the first-string, base defense were safeties Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard, cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr, linebackers Zach Thomas, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali and Andy Studebaker and defensive linemen Alfonso Boone (end), Alex Magee (end) and Ron Edwards. Defensive end Glenn Dorsey also saw some time in place of Magee during drills.

During the 11-on-11 drill, defensive tackle Tank Tyler applied great pressure to quarterback Brodie Croyle. Pleased with Tyler’s performance, Defensive Coordinator Clancy Pendergast hollered, “Hey, Tank. Do that every (dang) time.” from the sidelines. Later, Tyler fell to the ground after a play. Pendergast encouraged Tyler to “stay up.” However, Tyler fell again, and this time Head Coach Todd Haley hollered, “Stay up, Tank!” Quarterback Ingle Martin completed a short pass to running back Dantrell Savage. Savage was immediately met by linebacker Corey Mays, who would have made a huge tackle had the drill been live.

Head Coach Todd Haley had the team running situation drills. The only situation practiced during the drill this morning was the third-and-one situation. Safety Bernard Pollard showed some pressure on quarterback Matt Cassel. Words were exchanged between Pollard and the offensive players on the sidelines. A small spat broke out, and Haley shouted, “I’ll make you run!” No one ended up having to run after the tiff, but Pollard’s intensity rubbed off on everyone else during the remainder of the drill.

Todd Haley Press Conference

Head Coach Todd Haley spoke with the media after this morning’s practice. Haley said he felt like the team had a “good morning practice.” “It was extremely spirited,” he laughed, “if you couldn’t tell.”

Haley said that he things working on specific situations during drills is beneficial for both the offense and the defense, and he felt today’s drills were “especially good.” Haley said, “You can’t coach [situations] enough. I don’t think so at least.” When asked if he would continue to run situation drills during the regular season, Haley said, “A Friday or Saturday walk-thru would be when we’d work on these situation things.”

When asked about safety Bernard Pollard’s behavior during the third-and-one drill, Haley said that there “always seems to be one mouthy player,” but he wasn’t worried about Pollard’s attitude.

The Chiefs have an inner-squad scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 8. When asked what he anticipated the scrimmage to be like, Haley said that it would be “a controlled scrimmage” in which his team would get to work on “more situations.”

Running back Jackie Battle had a good morning practice, and when asked what he thought about the second-year runner, Haley said Battle did a great job in the off-season. “We had asked him to get his weight down,” Haley said. “He did that. And he’s fast. He got himself in good condition, and he’s put himself in a position to succeed.” Haley said that he expects Battle to do good things for the Chiefs. Haley also mentioned that Battle could be seeing some substantial time with the special teams. “We had him out there as a gunner,” Haley commented. “He’s going to be a tremendous asset out there.”

When asked why linebacker Mike Vrabel was in “no man’s land,” as Haley had called it, Haley said, “He was over there? Oh, I’m just worried about the guys I’ve got on the field.”

Haley commented on the fact that he likes the schedule of training camp. Haley has the team practicing once a day, then twice a day, alternating days.

The Chiefs defense switched from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense this season. As a past offensive coach, Haley said he knows what a 3-4 is capable of doing to an offense. “It just creates a whole slew of problems and schematic issues,” he said. Haley said the 3-4 is what his coaching staff knew best, and what he was most familiar with himself. “For me, it was a no-brainer to go with it,” he said. When asked how players were transitioning into the 3-4, Haley mentioned defensive end Glenn Dorsey who practiced for just the second time this morning. Haley said that he saw Dorsey be active and disciplined today. He also mentioned that defensive ends turned linebackers Tamba Hali, Andy Studebaker and Turk McBride are all making impressive progress as well. “It’s too early to pass judgment, however,” Haley said. The Chiefs tackles have had some problems adjusting to the 3-4 as well. Haley said there’s been times when they’ve gone after the wrong guy or blocked down when they should have been blocking up, but he knows all the mistakes are “part of the learning process.”

2009 Staff

Students and staff covering the Chiefs this year.
Front, left to right: Amanda Kane (Fans, Seniors Day),
Renee Thony (Sidelines), Linda Abel (Fans, Kids' Days),
Jim Thies (Sports Information Director).
Back, left to right: Deb Toftness (Office Manager),
Kevin Harter (University Communications Director),
Steve Linzmeier (Sidelines), J. J. Mosher (Fans, Punt, Pass & Kick),
Jens Gunelson (Photographer). Not picture is
Brenda Bredahl (University Communications Writer/Editor).