Training Camp Practice #21 Report

From St. Joseph, Missouri

It was a warm, muggy morning for the first of two Chiefs practices on Wednesday. With a workout this evening under the lights, that may have held down attendance, because it was one of the smallest crowds in three weeks at Missouri Western State University.

The players came out at the start of practice and were a bit lackadaisical compared to previous sessions and they soon heard about it from the coaching staff. Todd Haley and his guys have been working hard this week on getting the players up and moving quickly into the practice. They want to combat what happened last Friday night in the pre-season opener down in Atlanta where it seemed the Chiefs did not wake up until late in the first quarter.

Right off the bat Wednesday morning the offense wasn’t getting it done and coordinator Charlie Weis could be heard two fields away screaming at them to “wake up.” Folks in the graveyard on the other side of I-29 from campus heard Weis rip his guys.

Later, during the situation period the players appeared to be walking through the drill which was based on the offense having no timeouts, needing a touchdown and thus forced to throw the ball on the sidelines. When they stumbled through this a few times, Haley lit them up verbally with a blast. When QB Tyler Palko threw a pass short of a receiver on the sideline, Haley blasted him, calling into question his intelligence and homeland. What some of the fans who reacted to the coach’s harangue don’t know is that Palko grew up in a western Pennsylvania village about 15 miles away from where Haley grew up.

At the end, things were much better as they went to a live goal-line period and the first defense and first offense got after each other.

Here’s what happened:

Chatter quickly started to flow back-and-forth between the two groups. The backup defenders were banging their helmets and yelling “Deee Fense, Deee Fense.” On first down in the goal-line situation, RB Thomas Jones gained a yard. On second down, RB Jackie Battle was stopped for no gain. On third down RB Javarris Williams got outside containment on the left side, but SS Eric Berry came flying across the field brought him down before he reached the end zone with a tough, and smart tackle.

More observations from the practice:

– Not participating were QB Brodie Croyle, RB Kestahn Moore, FS Jon McGraw and G Darryl Harris. No official word on the nature of the injuries, but it’s Croyle’s right arm and Harris’ left knee that are causing them problems.

– Several players that returned to practice on Tuesday but only for limited participation were full-go for Wednesday morning. TE Tony Moeaki and OT Barry Richardson took regular turns with the offense in all drills.

– Rookie WR/RB Dexter McCluster hasn’t made many mistakes in his short career, but muffing a punt where he ran 20 yards to catch the ball brought criticism from the head coach and special teams coordinator Steve Hoffman. It was a bad decision on the part of the second-round pick.

– Former DE Bobby Greenwood was again at OT in a switch that went down in Tuesday afternoon’s session. Greenwood actually looked pretty good handling second-year DE Alex Magee in a running game drill.

– The rotation continued at inside linebacker as Demorrio Williams and Corey Mays were with the first defense, and Derrick Johnson and Jovan Belcher on the second team.

– Here’s how the No. 2 defense lined up in Wednesday morning’s practice: Shaun Smith and Wallace Gilberry at DE, Derek Lokey on the nose, Andy Studebaker and Pierre Walters at OLB, Johnson and Belcher at ILB, Maurice Leggett and Javier Arenas on the corners and Donald Washington and Reshard Langford at safety.

– Here was the No. 3 defense: Alex Magee and Dion Gales at DE and Garrett Brown on the nose. The OLBs were John Russell and Cameron Sheffield, with Justin Cole/David Herron/Cory Greenwood sharing the ILB spots. On the corners were Mike Richardson and Travis Daniels, with DaJuan Morgan and Ricky Price at safety.

– More personnel items, the No. 1 punt return team, from left to right in front of returner Javier Arenas: Brandon Flowers, Eric Berry, Tim Castille, Jovan belcher, Terrance Copper, Andy Studebaker, David Herron, Cory Green wood, Kendrick Lewis and Brandon Carr.

– At one point, the offense lined up both Jamaal Charles and Dexter McCluster for what could be a potent backfield. The combo immediately drew the attention of the defense. “Something crazy is about to happen” yelled one defensive player. It turned out to be a simple passing play.

– In the teamwork portion of practice, Johnson picked off a pass across the middle that was thrown by Palko. Johnson continues to get good depth on his pass drops and he’s getting his hands on more passes.