TODD HALEY: “A little shorter practice today (but) in full pads though. Thought it was crisp and thought we got a lot done. Had a new guest coach out there – Mark Bavaro – who some of you probably remember. He’s a guy I’ve got to know over the years and is one of my favorite football players of all time. I’m excited to have him in here kind of helping with the tight ends and really with everyone in general.

“Overall, I thought it was a pretty good morning, pretty competitive. I thought the offense picked it up a little bit, made some tougher players from a couple of different positions, so I thought that was a good start today.”

Q: Is Bavaro just here for today?

HALEY: “No, he’ll be in through the game and be on the sideline with us. I’m excited about that. We showed a little Mark Bavaro highlight tape last night. Like I said, he’s one of my favorite players of all time who exemplifies everything that we’re looking for in players.”

Q: What’s at the top of the list of things you’re looking for from the game Saturday night? What do you really want to see Saturday night?

HALEY: “Get through pre-game without incident, get lined up for stretch – those are things we’re going through right now as a staff that have me worried to start with. Then, getting the ball kicked off with everybody….I mean every part of Saturday night is going to be a stepping stone for us and for me personally.

“Obviously, I’d like to see us execute and, at the same time as I said yesterday, we’ve got to be able to evaluate these players. I hope we get enough plays to do that. You know, there are a lot of different things to be worrying about - just starting to look like a team as much as anything else.”

Q: How about organization of the game?

HALEY: “The pre-game warm-up in the pre-season is one of the most chaotic things you’ll ever be a part of and just to get everybody organized because they’re nervous and we’re nervous. You’ve got to remember this is the first time we’ve aligned out coaches, where they’re going to be, who’s in the (coaching) box, who’s on the field, there are a lot of things you’re trying to do on top of getting ready for practice out here and trying to get the team better. Then once you get into the game it’s keeping guys back. It’s a chaotic situation.”

Q: How much are the starters going to play?

HALEY: “We haven’t had that meeting yet. But I’ll be able to talk on that probably tomorrow.”

Q: Whatever length that is, what are your expectations for that group?

HALEY: “We’re not going to be real complicated, so I would say the most important thing is does everybody know what to do and then how well are we doing it. Going all the way back to OTA’s, we want guys who do it the way we want it done, the way they’re being coached to do it, and then how well are they doing it. If we do it, I would imagine we would execute okay and, like I said, start to look a football team.”

Q: Is pre-season more critical for this team?

HALEY: “I don’t know if our pre-season is any more important than anybody else’s pre-season. It’s important to everybody and it goes fast and doesn’t seem long enough. For us, personally, the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s critical to our success down the road.”

Q: You happy with the progress you’ve made in the couple of weeks up here? If I told you this is where you’re going to be would you have taken that?

HALEY: “I think I’m encouraged; I don’t know if I’m happy, jovial, high-fiving. I think I’m encouraged and that we clearly have some guys that are starting to get it and the more guys that we have that get it the better chance we have to have success. When you have a Branden Albert who was pretty ill yesterday and made it through a hot practice and then you see him today after the morning practice running again, that’s a guy – and I’ve said it before – who gets it.

“Some of these guys who are fighting through some pain right now, those are guys who look like they’re starting to get it. So the more guys that we can have that start to get into that group the better.”

Q: Is Bowe starting to do some things to earn some more playing time with the ones?

HALEY: “I thought he probably made one of his better plays of camp yesterday on the sideline. He competed for the football and made a play. I thought today it looked like he was competing to the football and with the football. I would say in the last two games there has been some progress.”

Q: Where is Tamba Hali in his transition from defensive end to linebacker?

HALEY: “I think this kid is a hungry kid who wants to be really good. There isn’t a time that you don’t see him working. A lot of things you don’t see. I went into the (weight room) the other day and there was a pool of sweat around (weight machine) the size of a small lake and I knew Tamba had been there. Then, you see him after practice and you see him before practice and with his own money he purchased a football station that he can watch tape. He’s doing all the things to try to be really good. I would say he’s starting to look like an outside backer.”

Q: It’s tough to ask change position, but how has he been making that transition?

HALEY: “I think he’s starting to look like a linebacker. Just saying that I think is pretty positive.”

Q: Do you have any Arrowhead Stadium memories?

HALEY: “When we came with the Jets in ‘98 and the Chiefs were just coming off a long winning streak. They had just lost, I think, to Pittsburgh the week before which, in my superstitious mind it was if they had just lost now, then they’re going to go back on a streak and I figured we had no chance. It was a huge game for us and it was raining and in pre-game (KC) wolf was out there on his four-wheeler running the dummy of Chrebet over and the crowd was going and we heard the ‘home of the Chiefs,’ which is an intimidating start to the game. We were able to win it in a tough game on a late field goal by John Hall. Dedric Ward, who was playing at that time, we put up in the small tight locker room and he said, ‘home of the Jets.’ We carried that with us all the way to the (AFC) championship game after every game.

“It was taken obviously from one of the great traditions. When you hear the crowd in the National Anthem finish with that it gives you chills no matter what side you’re on.”

Q: Is that the only time you’ve coached there?

HALEY: “No, I was in a regular season game with the Bears where we got our butts kicked. It was a mess of a game.”

Q: How many times have you been in the stadium as the Chiefs coach?

HALEY: “I’ve not been in it yet. I’m saving that. I didn’t want to intentionally. I’m saving that for Saturday.”

Q: How many years have you thought about this taking the field as a head coach?

HALEY: “As I said when I got the job, it’s nothing that I even ever dreamed of. Just late when talk started and you start to have some success you think, hey, maybe I could do it. But it’s not what I had gone into it for. I was so concerned with doing my job and trying to be good at what I was doing that I couldn’t even dream of getting this opportunity.”