Breakdown: With Thursday’s preseason matchup with the Chicago Bears looming, head coach Herm Edwards continued to hammer home his theme of execution and decision-making. The team practiced at 9:00 AM in Spider pads and worked on game situations including onside kick drills, Hail Mary situations, two-point conversion situations, planned safeties and end-of-game situations.

Looking Ahead: Tomorrow brings the season’s first preseason matchup. The Chiefs board busses at 9:15 AM and board a Delta charter around 11:00 AM. Once in Chicago, the team will eat a pregame meal at a downtown Chicago hotel before departing for the stadium. The Players board busses to Soldier Field at 3:45 PM for a 7:00 PM kickoff.

Weather Watch: It was golf weather again in River Falls today, as the Chiefs practiced amid blue skies and beautiful temperatures. The mercury topped out at 84 degrees. In Kansas City, conditions were cooler with scattered thunderstorms.

Look Who’s Talking: “Munch on those chips hard. This room is too quiet, let’s have some crack around here.”
-Quarterbacks coach Dick Curl on the working silence of the Chiefs Public Relations office.

Beat the Heat with Gatorade – Representatives from Gatorade arrived in camp today to help Coach Edwards in his annual Gatorade Beat the Heat media tour. Coach Edwards spoke with Sportingnews Radio, Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt, Chris Myers and will be featured on ESPN Hotlist, Yahoo Sports and the NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger. This is the NFL’s third year working with Gatorade to “Beat the Heat” by educating parents and coaches on how to keep athletes safe from heat-related illnesses, especially during hot-weather practices.

Chiefs trainers make sure the team drinks enough of the right kinds of fluids while active in the heat. Sports drinks like Gatorade are great at replacing what athletes lose through sweat to stay hydrated and safe on the playing field. Somewhere every year a player goes down due to heat-related illnesses, which is frustrating because it is 100 percent preventable.

Reader Questions: With LB Donnie Edwards being the most experienced linebacker in the corps for Kansas City; could he possibly move to the MLB position and wear the radio helmet this season?
-Steve Tollison (El Dorado, Kansas)

You’re half right. Edwards certainly is the most experienced LB in the corps right now, but he’s slotted to work at the left outside linebacker position. He’s also positioned to alternate radio helmet duties with right outside linebacker Derrick Johnson. If I could be allowed to pontificate for a moment; since pretty much no one plays every defensive snap of every game, every team will be forced to figure out some kind of rotation for the defensive communication system (only one defensive player can be on the field with a radio-equipped helmet at any given time). This means multiple people calling signals in the defensive huddle. This means coordinators calling signals to different players at different times. This means an opportunity for confusion. Time must be spent for teams to acclimate themselves to the new signaling system and the Chiefs defensive coaches have been wrapping their brains around it for weeks. Teams that take the change lightly could be bitten. Keep an eye on this.

Does CB Brandon Flowers look like he could be a shut-down corner?
-Jamie

First off, who do you think you are leaving just one name? Cher? Charo? Here in River Falls, we prefer a two-name system (or in the case of John Paul Foschi, and Jean-Philippe Darche, three). Either way, your question is good enough to alleviate any name-based discrimination. The term “shut-down corner” is really a misnomer. In today’s NFL of spread offenses and five-receiver sets, there really isn’t a player who can shut down opponents on any given down. Denver’s Champ Bailey may be the closest thing to a “shut-down corner” in the league, but even he gives up touchdowns.

Flowers isn’t terribly big, but most corners typically aren’t. What he is is fast and smart – two things that are vital to any CB in this league. He and CB Patrick Surtain have been splitting time dealing with WR Dwayne Bowe, who is a handful for anyone, so you know he’s getting some quality practice. He is penciled-in as a starter for tomorrow’s preseason collision with the Chicago Bears, so Coach Edwards is impressed with his ability. Finally, after speaking with him and spending some time watching him in practice, I have no doubt whatsoever that Flowers can be a special player for years to come.

Questions?: Is there a question about training camp or the Chiefs that you want answered? Chiefs insiders Josh Looney and Brock Ascher will answer fan questions daily in the River Falls Wrap.

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Have a specific question for a specific player? One fan question will be selected daily and featured in the Fans Want To Know portion of Camping With The Chiefs, which airs every evening of training camp on KCChiefs.com.

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