It's Brodie Now, Or Start Over

Oct 08, 2008, 9:16:06 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

When the Chiefs hit the practice field on Wednesday for the first of three practice sessions over their bye week, Brodie Croyle will handle the duties of the starting quarterback.

It has been since September 7th in Foxboro since Croyle has worked with the first unit. That’s when he suffered the right shoulder injury that cost him the last four games.

Talk to Croyle and he’ll tell you he wanted to be back on the field before this week. But the Chiefs decided against that and had the October 19th game against Tennessee circled as the date of his return.

What Croyle knows is this: once the bye week is over, he has 11 weeks to show he’s the quarterback of the future for the Chiefs. He cannot miss any more time. He cannot go out and turn the ball over. He cannot be inefficient in leading the offense.

If this is Croyle’s time and his place, then the next 11 games will provide the evidence. If not, then the Chiefs have to go back to the drawing board. Whether it’s a veteran or someone they select in the 2009 NFL Draft, they must start from scratch at the position. Damon Huard is not the future. Tyler Thigpen has not shown enough in his limited playing time to think he’s the long-term answer.

It’s Brodie or bust, and Brodie knows that.

“Obviously, when I get back, it’s vital for me to stay healthy and find a way to help this team win,” said Croyle.

Croyle is not 100 percent. He admits that. But that doesn’t mean he can’t play, or that it will effect is play. Last week, he threw the ball with some velocity during limited practice time and his shoulder suffered no ill effects from the work.

“I probably won’t be 100 percent for the rest of the year,” Croyle said. “But I’m close enough. It’s just one of those things that’s not going to go away until you have a couple of months to sit and rest it.

“It’s football. Everybody plays with pain. If I’m healthy, I’m going to go. I just have to make sure that over the next two weeks that everything keeps going the way it’s supposed to be and we don’t have any setbacks.”

It all leads back to that saying of Marty Schottenheimer’s: a player’s greatest ability is his availability. Whatever Croyle’s abilities to play the position on a consistent basis remain unknown because he hasn’t been able to stay on the field. That translates into missed games and also missed practices. For a young quarterback, those missed practices hurt development as well. That’s especially true for Croyle this year with a new offensive scheme.

Yes, he worked all through the off-season and pre-season with Chan Gailey, but all that came before the coordinator really knew what weapons were available to him. Of course, some would say that Gailey still hasn’t figured that out based on the Chiefs woeful offensive production in five games.

Plenty of what the offense worked on in preparation for this season was designed around Croyle and his mobility. The fact those plays and ideas can return to the offense has to help. It will all be familiar to the players as they practice again with the bootlegs, nakeds and the quarterback on the move on a regular basis.

It must come together for Croyle to have a chance. He alone is not going to cure the offensive blues. If the right side of his offensive line doesn’t play any better than it did against Carolina, then there will be no Brodie, just bust, or more likely another busted Brodie. All Croyle can do is get back on the field and try to make a difference.

His future with the Chiefs, and quite possibly the futures of a few others, depends on what happens over the next 11 weeks.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.