Afternoon Practice Update 8/12

From River Falls, Wisconsin

The Chiefs defense turned in a pretty good practice on Tuesday, as the Chiefs offense had the turnover bug.

The guy who got all the action was rookie S DaJuan Morgan.  He picked off QB  Tyler Thigpen on a pass for WR Will Franklin.  Later, he recovered a fumble by RB Jamaal Charles.  As Charles ran to his right, he lost control of the ball without being hit.  Not a good sign.

Offensively, the Chiefs had great success all three times they ran the play where the running back takes the direct snap from center, with the quarterback lined up as a wide receiver.  All three came on third down plays and Larry Johnson, Charles and Dantrell Savage all got enough to move the chains.

In the team work, QB Brodie Croyle hit a nice throw to WR Devard Darling. Thigpen hit a big third-down throw over the middle to WR Bobby Sippio.

The Chiefs ran 12 plays in the two-minute drill under the direction of Thigpen.  The offense was down by two points and had all three timeouts remaining and had to get to at least the Defense’s 22-yard line to set up a winning field goal attempt.  After Thigpen scrambled on fourth-and-one and then spiked the ball, the offense had time left on the clock and possession at the 20-yard line.

The kickers worked in this practice and it was not a good day for Connor Barth.  The rookie was just 2-for-4, missing wide right from 30 yards and wide left from 35 yards.  He made 40 and 45-yard FGs.  Nick Novak was 3-for-4, missing wide right from 40 yards.

Practice work was limited for MLB Pat Thomas (finger) and DE Turk McBride (hamstring).  None of the other injured players returned to work.  DT Glenn Dorsey again worked about 10 to 12 plays.