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Friday, August 7: Morning Practice

It was a wet and soggy morning to start of the tenth practice with a temperature of 68 degrees. The humidity was 60 percent with a wind speed of four miles-per-hour headed to the east-southeast. Despite the miserable weather, there were about 80 fans at the practice. Most were covered by umbrellas and layered in sweatshirts, long pants and ponchos. 

Fans

Al King from Pleasant Hill, Mo., endured through the rain today at the 10th Kansas City Chiefs practice. This is the seventh year that King has attended the Summer Camp and is sad to hear that they may be leaving UWRF. “I’m looking forward to seeing the team scrimmage,” says King, “but practice is running at a much faster speed this year with the new coaching staff, so I’m not sure if I’ll get to see one.”

Three dedicated fans, Chad Comeau of Pittsburg, Kan., Ryan Comeau of Kansas City, Mo., and Chris Keller of Joplin Mo., attended the today’s practice and sat through the wind and rain. “We really like it here. The people of this area are so nice and the town is so well kept,” said Chad. As far as the team practicing in Missouri, “we’re not very happy about the changed, but we’ll probably go to the camp there. The move will definitely be better for the fan base,” said Ryan. The three all claim to be fans of the whole team and are looking forward to seeing what will happen this season with the new players.

Two Brian Waters fans, Jim Stewart and Dennis Hombs of Boonville, Mo., endured the rain during the practice.  This is their fifth year of coming to the Summer Camp and if the team moves to Missouri to practice this may be their last. “We’re not happy about the move,” says Stewart, “the weather is much cooler for practice here and we enjoy the road trip.” As for the fan base, Hombs commented, “it will be much better for the fans in Missouri and hopefully expand the amount of fans the team already has.”  They are looking forward to seeing how Head Coach Todd Haley turns the team around this year. “Everyone looks good at practice, but only time will tell how it all works out.”

Fans Doug Garton of Wellington, Kan. and Larry Lamping of Batesville, Ind., met each other under a tree near the parking lot, trying to keep dry from the rain. It is Garton’s first time visiting camp. He has been here since the first practice on Saturday and enjoys watching safety Bernard Pollard because of his intensity on defense. Lamping said this is about his 16th time visiting camp. He is visiting Bloomington, Minn., for business and thought he would swing by to watch practice since he had a little extra time. “They are more disciplined out on the field. They seem more focused and detail oriented. This is the way to success, though...through hard work,” stated Lamping.

Antonio Arceo and his son Victor of Seattle, Wash,. were watching practice from underneath a tree due to the rain. The Arceo family was here two years ago and decided to come back to the Chiefs Summer Training Camp in River Falls one last time, not knowing if they would have another opportunity to do so. Last time they visited, they also traveled with Claire, Antonio’s wife and Victor’s mother, but she was unable to come this time. Victor mentioned that he tends to watch the defensive line more because they are usually the most entertaining. However, he did enjoy watching the quarterbacks try to throw the footballs into the garbage cans that were placed in the endzones on Thursday. Even though he is from Washington, he watches the Chiefs instead of the Seahawks because some of the first games he ever watched, he remembers watching Chiefs former running back Priest Holmes (2001-2007) and former tight end Tony Gonzales (1997-2008). Antonio added that everyone else is talking about the Seahawks, Victor is all about the Chiefs. “It is funny how he talks as part of the team,” stated Antonio.

Dave Starke and his son Carson (6) were watching near practice field 2 while his wife Carla and daughter Allison (10) went to go see if they could find some umbrellas or ponchos to keep the family dry. The Starkes arrived in town yesterday, and it is their first time coming to Summer Training Camp in River Falls. Carson is just getting into football and mentioned that his favorite player is quarterback Matt Cassel. Dave stated that they were in Minneapolis for a few days, and now they are in River Falls to watch the Chiefs for a few days before they head back home.

Bill Smith of Doolittle, Mo., was heavily dressed and sporting an umbrella while watching practice this morning. “It’s wet, man!” Smith said while shaking rain off of his shoes. “I’ll bet the players don’t mind though. They look like they’re having fun!” This is the third year that Smith has been able to drive up to River Falls to attend camp. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m going to miss coming up here.”

Defense
During 7-on-7, the defensive first-string consisted of linebackers Mike Vrabel, Corey Mays, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali and defensive ends Alex Magee and Alfonso Boone and defensive tackle Ron Edwards. With linebacker Zach Thomas not practicing, Mays was able to see his first practice with the first-string defense.

The defensive and offensive linemen got together on field 2 to run their one-on-one drill. The defensive player would try to bust past the offensive block. During the drill, rookie defensive end Bobby Greenwood jumped offsides and had to run consequently.

During the 1-on-1 receiving drills cornerback Travis Daniels dove in front of a ball intended for wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. 

During 11-on-11, the starters included safeties Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page, linebackers Mike Vrabel, Corey Mays, Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson, cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Brandon Flowers, defensive ends Alex Magee and Alfonso Boone and defensive tackle Ron Edwards. One of the first plays of the drill was an interception by Mays. Quarterback Matt Cassel attempted a pass to wide receiver Dwayne Bowe in the endzone, but Carr was able to swat the ball down. Later, quarterback Tyler Thigpen dropped back and attempted a throw to wide receiver Rodney Wright. There were about three defenders around the ball to prevent the completion.

Extra, extra...

Senior ESPN Analyst John Clayton watched Chiefs practice this morning from a rain-soaked section of bleachers near where the offense was working on drills. “Does it get any better than this?” Clayton asked with a huge smile on his face. “Sitting in the rain during a morning NFL practice?  I will take this any day over sitting indoors!” On such a cold and rainy day, it was surprising to see the NFL analyst enjoying practice wearing nothing more than a thin t-shirt, shorts and an NFL cap. Clayton has visited camp in River Falls for over ten years, and the Chiefs mark the sixth team in six days that he has seen at their respective camps. “I’m going to see 21 teams in total, and I go to Pittsburgh tomorrow,” Clayton said. He also admitted that he was paying special attention to the new 3-4 defense and to how quarterback Matt Cassel was gelling with his new receiving core. When asked what it’s like to work for ESPN and report on the NFL, Clayton responded “It’s awesome! The people that I get to work with are great. They all love sports and thrive on finding accurate information to report.”

Right before Head Coach Todd Haley gave his post-practice press conference, he was overheard telling ESPN Analyst John Clayton that his father would be at the afternoon practice today. The two men exchanged pleasantries before the conference started, and then afterwards sat on a bench inside Hunt Arena to talk for a while before Clayton had to leave for the airport to prepare for his trip to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers tomorrow.

Not participating in practice this morning were linebackers Demorrio Williams, Zach Thomas, Monty Beisel and Weston Dacus and cornerback DaJuan Morgan.

Due to the excessive amount of rain that fell during practice, a number of players were sliding and falling. Linebacker Corey Mays was one of the players who fell. Head Coach Todd Haley didn’t excuse the player just because of the weather. “Stay on your feet,” Haley yelled.

You have to admire the officials standing in the pouring rain for all of practice.  It was an hour before referee Mike Carey decided it was time for jacket. 

Offense
During the rain-soaked practice the quarterbacks did a nice job of throwing the football.  Quarterback Brodie Croyle struggled slightly with the weather conditions but nothing substantial. There were a few drops by the receivers and traction problems, that could be partial blamed on the weather.  At one point Head Coach Todd Haley yelled, “Come on [wide receiver] Amani [Toomer], stay up!”  The 14-year veteran fell while running a comeback route during the teams 1-0 drill.

Wide receiver Bobby Engram had the most problems catching the ball today.  Engram dropped three balls during three different drills.  He dropped one during 1-on-0, one during 6-on-0, and his final drop came during 7-on-7. 

Wide receiver Rodney Wright continues to impress in camp.  During a 1-on-1 drill he put a sick move on the cornerback leaving him in the dust and getting himself wide open for the easy completion.

Quarterback Matt Cassel got the team started in the 7-on-7 drill again today.  Cassel hit running back Larry Johnson out of the backfield for the first completion.  His next pass was dropped by receiver Bobby Engram.  Two passes later, linebacker Derrick Johnson got his hand on a pass that was intended for tight end Jake O’Connell. Cassel finished with two straight completions to receiver Devard Darling, to finish 4-6.  Quarterback Tyler Thigpen stepped in and completed his only two passes of the drill - one to receiver Jeff Webb and the other to receiver Amani Toomer. To finish off the drill quarterback Brodie Croyle completed four passes. Rookie receiver Taurus Johnson got in on the act with the session’s final catch.

The team then moved the 7-on-7 drill to the 20-yard line to work on some red zone throws.  Quarterback Matt Cassel started 2-2 but struggled after that.  His next pass was behind wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and was dropped.  He finished with two more incompletions, the second was a jump ball to Bowe in the corner of the end zone that was broken up by cornerback Brandon Carr. Just like Cassel, quarterback Tyler Thigpen started with two completions to receiver Terrence Copper, then hit a snag.  Thigpen was intercepted on his next pass.  Quarterback Brodie Croyle came in and was 1-3.  His second pass was dropped by receiver Quinten Lawrence and the third was deflected by two converging defenders, safety Ricky Price and cornerback Travis Daniels. 

The offense struggled during the 11-on-11 drill. Two fumbles, a drop and a sack occurred during the session.  Running back Jamaal Charles coughed up the ball - it was recovered by linebacker Corey Smith.  Later, quarterback Tyler Thigpen had the ball knocked out his hands while he was trying to scramble away from pressure.  Quarterback Matt Cassel was sacked by linebacker Tamba Hali, who came free off the right edge into Cassel’s roll out.  Receiver Dwayne Bowe had the lone drop of the session. Cassel threw  the ball just behind him, but it was definitely a ball an NFL receiver should catch.

For the final session of the day, the team went to the 10-yard line and ran a set of four downs with the first and second team.  On the first play, running back Larry Johnson picked up two-yards.  Quarterback Matt Cassel hit receiver Devard Darling for 7-yards down to the 1-yard line. Facing third-and-one Cassel found himself in trouble and had to try to force a pass to tight end Sean Ryan.  The throw was behind Ryan and it fell incomplete. The offense went for it on fourth-and-one and Johnson found the end zone.  The offense got another try, this time with the second teams.  Running back Jackie Battle got the first two handoffs picking up little to no yards. On third down quarterback Tyler Thigpen tried a quick release play to receiver Amani Toomer but the ball was knocked down by defensive end Wallace Gilberry. On fourth down Thigpen was in trouble and had to scramble out of the pocket. He picked up some good yards, but was short of the end zone.

Todd Haley Press Conference
Considering the rain that dampened practice, Head Coach Todd Haley said he thought the team had a “good morning’s work.” “These days are good for you,” he said. “They help you build a little character, a little mental toughness, and I thought we responded well to a little different atmosphere.”

Haley said that despite the weather, he didn’t cut practice short. “I cut one three-minute break out because it was so cool out there that nobody appeared fatigued,” he said. Haley said he was impressed with the overall energy and competitiveness of this morning’s practice, especially at the end of the morning when the team was trying to score from the 10-yard line. Haley said the offense won once, and the defense won once.

Regardless of the wet conditions, when the offense continued to struggle to hold onto the football, Haley still made them run. “We might have to win a game in those conditions that means a lot to this team,” he explained. “We’ve got to protect the football no matter what the circumstances are.” Haley said making the team run is just a reminder that not holding onto the ball is “not okay.”

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).