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Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007: Training Camp News

A temperature of 83 degrees awaited 235 fans at today's morning practice. The dew point was 64, with humidity at 47 percent. The wind blew in from the southwest at 13 miles per hour, gusting to 20 miles per hour. The weather forecast for this afternoon includes a 17 percent chance of rain; the Chiefs will practice regardless of precipitation unless lightning is present.

Offense

The atmosphere was quiet as practice started. The Chiefs have made a habit of starting practices with fundamental drills and this morning was no different. Quarterbacks took snaps and went through the motions of giving a hand off before practicing their foot work. The line pushed the sled up field for 10-yard reps while running backs followed with the ball. Running backs and fullbacks ran outlet routes during one-on-one drills. Among the other drills ran were a receiving drill that had receivers curling inside for a pass from coaches in the middle and a one-on-one blocking drill that had each side of the line working with blocking pads on hits and drives. A drill set up to face a nickel defense sent five receivers out to run through patterns that ended with two to three receivers catching mid range passes.

The Chiefs ran two sessions of 11-on-11 drills that focused mainly on the run game. During the first session, running back Kolby Smith had four carries (three right, one middle) and running backs Marcus O'Keith (middle and right), Derrick Ross (right) and Michael Bennet (right and middle) had two carries a piece. Quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Casey Printers each took snaps. Quarterback Damon Huard got 13 reps during the second session, Croyle got 14 and Printers 10. Huard and Croyle each threw two incompletes. Tight end Tony Gonzalez could not quit grab a 23-yard pass over the middle from Huard as it bounced off his finger tips. Smith got a reaction out of the crowd when he took a hand off from Huard on a run to the left, lowered his shoulder and knocked over safety Chad Williams. Croyle had a beautiful 22-yard touchdown pass to the back right corner of the end zone to tight end Kris Wilson.

All four quarterbacks got reps during a 7-on-7 drill. Quarterback Damon Huard went out with the first unit for four reps. On the line was John Welbourn at right guard, Kyle Turley at right tackle, Casey Wiegmann at center, Brian Waters at left guard and Damion McIntosh at left tackle. Quarterback Casey Printers took four reps and tight end Tony Gonzalez had trouble hanging on to his passes. Gonzalez dropped a 20-yard pass to left side and a 10-yard pass to the right that bounced off his chest. Quarterback Brodie Croyle threw one incompletion during his four reps. His pass to tight end Mike Pinkard was long and wide to the left corner of the end zone. Quarterback Jeff Terrell went out with the last unit. Rookie wide receiver Brad Ekwerekwu received the ball on all three reps and did a good job getting off his defenders. He had a nice spin in to the left off of linebacker Keyaron Fox for an 8-yard pass.

Defense

This morning all of the players that were healthy padded up and were ready for a hard hitting practice. In the typical daily opening drill the defensive backs were on the sleds, and all were feeding off energy from each other. Veteran cornerbacks Patrick Surtain and Ty Law were just as quick as the rookies, acting like they were fighting for their already locked in starting jobs.

The defensive line worked on a different version of the sled hitting drill. In this version the lineman went on their knees as defensive line coach Tim Krumrie smack his hand on the ball. The players would lift their arms as fast as they could smacking the sled. On the third hit the players would pop up and drive into the sleds.

The focus of the defensive practice today was working on defending the run game.

At 9:35 a.m., all of the defensive players went to the third field for an 11-on-11 drill. These practices pump up safety Bernard Pollard who was jumping around and hitting his chest in the huddle. At the other safety position Jarrad Page is working a lot with the first team. Last season safety Greg Wesley started at the position and had three interceptions, but has some competition from Page who also recorded three interceptions last season.

Safety Chad Williams had an outstanding practice this morning. Williams slammed into running back Derrick Ross on the left sideline, right in front of several senior citizens who where at Senior's Day watching practice. On another play Williams made a big hit on tackle Chris Terry, which knocked Terry on his back unexpectedly. Terry weighs 80 pounds less than Williams, but Terry was still able to flatten him.

Defensive end Claude McBride is having a really good training camp, but today he didn't perform so well. McBride worked on the second team where he jumped offsides, a mental mistake rookies need to learn not to make. Not only did McBride jump offsides, but he also got in to a scrum with tackle Will Svitek.

The best play of practice was made by former University of Texas star linebacker Derrick Johnson . Johnson is working with veteran linebackers Donnie Edwards and Napoleon Harris to learn how to become better at his position. On the play Johnson read quarterback Damon Huard's eyes and made a break on the ball thrown to tight end Kris Wilson. He picked off the pass in the flat and had nothing but green grass in front of him to the end zone. After the play he was greeted and congratulated by several defensive teammates. In the press conference after practice Coach Herm Edwards said, "He's (Johnson) going into his third year and into his second year of the system and he is understanding better. The first game last year he was fantastic. He hurt his ankle and that slowed him down a bit. He started pressing some, but I think he is coming into camp with a good mind set."

Special Teams

Kicker Justin Medlock practiced his kick off approach as the rest of the Chiefs stretched to prepare for practice. After a handful of reps Medlock joined the rest of the special teams unit for a familiar kick off drill that started at the 50 and moved back. Wide receivers Jeff Webb and rookie Ean Randolph were favorites for the return each carrying the ball three times. Wide receiver Chris Hannon and cornerback Benny Sapp took the ball up field two times a piece. Special teams coach Mike Priefer coached the unit and let it know what he wanted on a kick-off coverage drill. "Three-quarter speed only. Hit the line full, then three-quarter speed only." The kick-off crew mainly worked the left side of the field.

Fans

Wide receiver Eddie Kennison took the time to visit with some senior citizens at the annual Seniors' Day. Kennison signed autographs and had his picture taken with several of the attendees. More than 75 seniors had a great time eating cookies from the Best Maid Cookie Company, located in River Falls, sipping coffee, and watching the Chiefs’ morning practice.  There was a birthday girl among the crowd; Shirley Ellis of the Lutheran Home was excited to get her picture taken with Kennison and even invited him to her birthday party. One senior was seen comparing her dentures to Kennison’s mouth guard.  After Kennison signed an autograph for Agnes Baillargeon, he stood up and said, “Behave now,” to which she was quick to reply, “you too.”

Extra, Extra...

Tackle Will Svitek and defensive end Claude McBride had a short scuffle after a hard-hitting play during the second session of 11-on-11. Svitek was told by Coach Herm Edwards to walk away. A fan from the stands shouted "Way to go Will." Edwards was quick to respond to the fan that that kind of football is not the style of his team. "That's the way to go? That's embarrassing; he just got kicked out of the game. That's what you call way to go?" asked Edwards of the fan. After practice Svitek took some time to talk to the press about the incident. "I was being physical and I didn't retaliate. Coach Edwards may have thought I retaliated, but I was being smart about it." Svitek went on to explain that he is going to play rough but that he also has to know when to stop. The last few days in full pads have been physical and Svitek says he just wants to play hard. Edwards also discussed the incident at his post-practice press conference. "I don't want players to all of a sudden think it's OK to fight; it's never good to fight. If it's practice you don't get kicked out. What I do is I kick guys off the practice field. I see a lot of hands broken in fights, then all of a sudden you can't practice. Last time I checked if you fight you get kicked out and it's a penalty and that hurts your team." As far as responding to the fan Edwards said, "If you've got something to say at least think about what you're saying. It's never a smart thing. If you think that's right, you're watching the wrong sport."

Running back Priest Holmes, linebacker Nate Harris and tight end Jason Dunn worked with strength and conditioning coaches. They ran the length of the field at half speed eight times down and back, walking the width of the field in between each length. After that they went through a series of stretches.

Guard Brian Waters and safety Bernard Pollard answered some questions in short interviews after practice. Waters discussed the position of the line coming into the pre-season. "The line has come a long way. We still have stuff to work on." He shared that the offensive line doesn't care who plays behind them, they just want to do their best for the team. Pollard talked about his recent finger injury. He dislocated one of his fingers early in the week. "It's cool; it hurt, but this is the game of football." He went on to say that the he didn't know what he did when it happened but that he knew it hurt like nothing he had felt before.

2007 Staff

Students and staff covering the Chiefs this year include in front row, left to right: Dave Urbaniak (Defense), Amie Eller (Fans, Punt, Pass & Kick), Jim Thies (Sports Information Director), Jennifer Pengra (Fans, Kids Days), Shawna Carpentier (Offense). Back, left to right: Mark Kinders (Public Affairs Director), Brenda Bredahl (Public Affairs Editor), Jens Gunelson (Photographer), Lisa Stratton (Fans, Web Site Editor), Deb Toftness (Office Manager). Not pictured is Zach Nagle (Student Photographer).