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ALBERT IS ACHING
October 14th – 5:30 PM

As reported earlier in our practice report, Chiefs T Branden Albert missed today’s practice after leaving the Cowboys game early last Sunday with an ankle injury. In his absence, Willie Bloomquist…err Wade Smith…the Chiefs do-everything offensive lineman was taking first-team reps in Albert’s place.

”I just think that Wade knows his role,” Haley said. “He knows he’s across the board back-up in a lot of these games we’ve gone into. So, he puts excellent preparation into all spots understanding that at any time he could be playing any one of those positions.“

This afternoon, Chiefs head coach Todd Haley wouldn’t rule Albert out for this Sunday, but he wasn’t exactly yielding gleams of confidence when talking about Albert’s injury either.

“It’s going to be a tough road for him,” Haley said of Albert. “But I think that his mindset is right and he wants to make it back. So he is doing everything in his power to be back and I wouldn’t bet against him.“

Haley starts off as a “no” and finishes as a “yes” when talking about Albert’s prognosis. It looks like this is one to keep an eye on all the way up through Friday.

Right now, it appears that Smith will be the man to go should Albert not progress to the liking of the coaching staff and medical team. Other options also include T Ikechuku Ndukwe, who started the first two games of the season at right tackle, and T Barry Richardson from the practice squad. Richardson was briefly passed former Chief Damion McIntosh as the team’s starting right tackle during the preseason. Obviously, the Chiefs would need to make a roster move if they felt the need to promote Richardson.

REDSKINS PREPPING FOR CHIEFS BLITZ; TAMBA HALI
October 14th – 5:08 PM

Jim Zorn has a lot to worry about these days, but his biggest worry at the moment may be preparing his battered offensive line for the complex blitz packages Chiefs defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast has shown thus far in 2009.

”They play hard and Clancy (Pendergast) is doing a great job moving their guys around,” Zorn said today. “What is amazing to me is that this defense has blitz combinations where people are in different places.“

Defeating a team that blitzes in such a manor that the Chiefs do is all about having an offensive line who can communicate and adapt after the snap. What the Chiefs show pre-snap sometimes isn’t anywhere close to what they show post-snap. The basic premise of creating pressure out of the 3-4 scheme is all about sending linebackers through various gaps for various alignments. With the Redskins line literally a patchwork unit this week, Zorn expects Pendergast to execute a hefty dose of the blitz in Washington.

”(Pendergast) does a very nice job communicating to these defensive guys to be in the right spots. They know how to adjust and cover with different formations and personnel groups. I think they are doing a great job. The D-line is very sound and they play really hard. They have excellent athletes rushing the passer and you can tell they like to play.“

One of those exciting rushers that Zorn is talking about happens to be LB Tamba Hali. Hali is a guy who continues to draw the attention of opposing players and coaches once they catch a glimpse of game tape. We’ve heard somebody address the presence of Hali during each and every conference call with a Chiefs opponent to date. This afternoon, Redskins RB Clinton Portis kept the streak alive by singling Hali out as a player that Washington needs to account for.

”For playing a new position and having to do the coverage things that he hasn’t done a bunch of he’s doing a very good job in a lot of those areas,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “Teams know that he’s around and they tend to put a tight end over there or an extra back and that helps us in other areas. But that’s why you can’t necessarily go off his individual statistics.“

Pendergast has done an excellent job in keeping Hali out of awkward situations. Rarely do you seen Hali manned-up against a slot receiver or tight end. Typically, Hali is either on the blitz, filling the run or playing his pass coverage in zones.

”I think Tamba has taken what he knew would be a difficult transition when we came in here and said what we were going to do defensively,” Haley said. “He took it with open arms, worked his butt off and it’s hard to find anyone who’s worked harder than him in all areas physically and in the film room. He’s taken on a leadership role with this team on top of it. Tamba Hali to me is the type of guy we’re looking for around here. The more of those that we can get around here the better off we’ll be. I don’t think his statistics reflect how well he’s played for us.“

Hali is leading the Chiefs in sacks with 2.0 and he could have even more if it weren’t for opposing tackles throwing the white flag and taking a 10-yard holding penalty, rather than see their quarterback on the ground. In addition, when Hali sacks, he strips. He has already forced two fumbles this season and currently ranks third in Chiefs history with 13 forced fumbles over three-plus seasons.

All his life, Hali has faced adversity and conquered. Most all Chiefs fans know his story of escape from the war-torn country of Liberia to settle in the United States. Although the challenge of changing defensive positions may not have been the most difficult thing he has gone through personally, it is definitely the hardest thing that he’s been asked to do professionally.

Hali is currently playing like the pass rusher that the Chiefs envisioned when he was drafted as a first-round pick in 2006; he’s just doing it at a different position. There is something to be said for Hali’s success story that started with no guarantees back in the spring.

”For playing a new position and having to do the coverage things that he hasn’t done a bunch of he’s doing a very good job in a lot of those areas,” Haley said. “Teams know that he’s around and they tend to put a tight end over there or an extra back and that helps us in other areas.“

Hali has embraced, impressed and conquered. It’s only a matter of time before more and more people take notice.

BATTLE TO THE INJURED RESERVE
October 14th – 2:46 PM

The late morning decision to bring RB Jackie Battle indoors stemmed from a decision by the Chiefs front office to delegate Battle to the injured reserve list. Taking Battle’s place on the Chiefs roster, as originally reported on kcchiefs.com, is LB Justin Rogers.

“We had to injured reserve Jackie Battle, he’ll probably have to have surgery (on his shoulder)” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “Rogers is a guy who has some experience. I think that last year he had 18 special teams tackles for Dallas. He’s been a pretty productive special teamer and that’s been his role here early in his career. He passes the ‘look test,’ so we’re happy to have him in for an opportunity to look at.”

The late announcement surrounding Rogers’ signing likely stemmed from Rogers needing to complete a physical. Rogers was released this preseason by Dallas after missing significant time with knee tendinitis.

Battle never stepped on the practice field this morning, but was instead working out with other injured Chiefs on the sidelines before ultimately heading inside.

CHIEFS PRACTICE REPORT- NEW PLAYER IN RED
October 14th – 12:06 PM

After a week of relatively no news involving events at Chiefs practices, this morning’s session offered a bit of change. First, let’s start with the Chiefs two injured offensive linemen: G Mike Goff and T Branden Albert.

Albert was not working with the offense today and rode a stationary bike throughout the early portion of practice. While he was out, utility offensive lineman Wade Smith took reps at left tackle. Goff returned to the field and was practicing in full pads.

The players who joined Albert in the rehab zone were G/C Andy Alleman, RB Kolby Smith and S Jarrad Page.

There was also a new face at practice today at outside linebacker wearing #55. Strangely enough, there were no players unaccounted for from either the practice squad or active roster as the morning practice began. RB Jackie Battle, however, did leave the practice fields and head into the indoor facility when the practice began. It looks as if the Chiefs have made a last-minute signing, but exactly where their new player fits (and who he replaces) is to be determined. The new player is thought to be LB Justin Rogers - a player who spent the previous two seasons in Dallas after entering the NFL as a sixth-round pick with New England in 2007.

DORSEY TRADE BAIT?
October 14th – 9:20 AM

Glenn Dorsey is once again in the spotlight for Kansas City. Earlier this week, NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora announced that the Chiefs brass are “down” on Dorsey and that a trade involving the fifth overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft may be in the works.

Here is an exerpt from La Confora’s blog on NFL.com.

“I’m also told by numerous league sources that the coaching staff in Kansas City isn’t high on NT Glenn Dorsey, a former first-round draft pick. There’s always a demand for nose tackles in this league, and the salary-cap ramifications wouldn’t be a deterrent in dealing for Dorsey.“

First, let me go on record by saying that La Canfora can generally be counted on for providing accurate information involving all 32 teams. In short, he is a respected reporter when it comes to the NFL. I don’t doubt that La Canfora hasn’t heard a bird chirp in his ear about the potential destinations of various Chiefs as we near the trade deadline on October 20th. But his information about the coaching staff in Kansas City being “down” on Dorsey may be a bit outdated. Also, Dorsey plays defensive end.

Dorsey began training camp out of shape and, as Dorsey himself admitted, didn’t pass the club’s conditioning test. He was officially in “the doghouse” so to speak. That was back in late July. Since then, however, Dorsey has paid his dues, worked his way back into shape and appears to be the cornerstone of the Chiefs defensive line at this point in the season.

The second-year player has been quietly turning in solid performance after solid performance. He’s continually one of the first players coming off the line of scrimmage on the snap and has been getting plenty of push from his end post. Dorsey possibly turned in the best performance of his young career vs. Oakland and has built off of that performance each week.

The results of Dorsey’s labor has seen the defensive end play in nearly every defensive snap this season. Dorsey has turned in 275 total defensive snaps this season. That is an average of 55 plays per game and hardly a sign of someone either out of shape or in the dog house. In fact, Dorsey’s 275 snaps lead all Chiefs defensive linemen this season. DE Tyson Jackson has seen the second-most action by appearing in 194 total plays (38.8 avg.).

While moving any player (besides QB Matt Cassel and Jackson) before the deadline isn’t out of the question, moving Dorsey would need to make a lot of sense for Kansas City. If Dorsey were to move on, DE Wallace Gilberry and DE Alex Magee would likely be thrust into the spotlight. Both players have seen limited action to date this season. The scenario of Dorsey packing his bags seems unlikely, and packing his bags for San Diego (which La Canfora offered as a destination in a television interview) seems downright inconceivable. Who knows though, crazier things have happened at the deadline.

Just ask yourself this. What would it take to trade the “can’t miss” defensive lineman on every teams board just 21 games into his career? Is there even a deal out there that begins to make sense for KC? We’ll only know for certain when October 21st comes around.

EASTBOUND AND DOWN
October 14th – 6:05 AM

The Chiefs are prepping for yet another east coast road trip this weekend, their third this regular season in as many road games. Kansas City’s last swing out east wasn’t exactly kind to the squad, and opening the year in Baltimore with a load of new players, a new head coach and new schemes on both sides of the football isn’t exactly ideal.

But this weekend, the east coast looks different – much different. The Redskins are down. I mean they’re visibly down, both emotionally and physically.

“I feel bad and I’m hurting,” Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said earlier this week. “Our team is as well.”

Zorn later went on to say the following: “I ask myself questions: ‘What are we doing? Are we doing it right?’”

Those aren’t the words of a man gleaming with confidence and, quite honestly, who can blame him? Over the past week, Zorn has seen his job status discussed on nearly every national NFL television and radio show in the country, lost his Pro Bowl T Chris Samuels to a neck injury and seen Washington’s two backfield mates – FB Mike Sellers and RB Clinton Portis – publically feud with one another.

Last Sunday, the Chiefs faced a less-than-desirable scenario that saw utility offensive lineman Wade Smith shift from his usual backup duties behind center or right guard to the man protecting the edge on QB Matt Cassel’s blind side. Smith filled in admirably, given the circumstances, and the Chiefs have a full week to nurse T Branden Albert back to health. In Washington, that option isn’t available with Samuels.

The Redskins will be searching for answers to stop the bleeding this weekend. They’ve lost their best lineman out of a group that has struggled throughout the first five games of the season. The Skins have already yielded 13.0 sacks (5.0 on Sunday) and they don’t have any definitive backups. Oh, and they already lost starting right guard Randy Thomas for the season a few weeks ago.

It’s an absolute worst case scenario along the offensive front for Washington and it’s absolutely the last thing that Zorn needs at the moment. It looks like they’ll start with flipping RT Stephon Heyer, an undrafted free agent, over to left tackle and start constructing from there.

Washington is down to starting career backups out of position and asking players who have been out of football for multiple seasons to bounce around at different positions on a week-to-week basis. Case in point – Mike Williams, a former 2002 first-round draft pick and career tackle has been playing right guard since Thomas’ injury. Before this season, Williams last appeared on an NFL roster with Jacksonville in 2006 and last played in a professional game back in 2005 with Buffalo. He’ll likely shift back over to his familiar tackle post this weekend since Heyer is expected to shift to the left side. Expect the Chiefs to try and exploit the Redskins offensive edge early and often on Sunday with LB Tamba Hali.

The tides are truly testing Washington this week in more ways than one. Kansas City comes to town with nothing to lose, while the Redskins are on the verge of hitting the panic button. Sitting at 2-3, Washington can’t afford another loss this weekend and legitimately expect to remain in the hunt amongst the stacked NFC East – especially given the fact that Kansas City represents the sixth consecutive game Washington has played against a winless team, which is an NFL record (NYG 0-0, STL 0-1, DET 0-2, TB 0-3, CAR 0-4).

Amidst Washington’s personnel issues, the magnitudes of outside distractions are piling up at an alarming rate. Players are taking bullets from the media, publically endorsing their head coach, while reports surface simultaneously that their owner is already searching for Zorn’s replacement. Whether the reports are true or not doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is that the inner-dealings of the Skins are being discussed daily, and the problems can’t get much more complex for a Redskins team who is still searching for on-field answers. Most recently, Washington saw a 17-2 third quarter lead turn into a 20-17 Carolina victory – the Panthers first of the season.

But be careful to count Washington out. Some teams thrive on an “us against the world” mentality, stepping up and fighting when they’re injured and backed into a corner. The will of Washington is being tested this week and the Chiefs will experience, first hand, just what kind of fight this Redskins team has.

Is this the right or wrong time to be making a visit to Washington? On paper, it looks as if the Redskins are ripe for picking, but who really knows? Washington has already provided three teams their first wins of the season, why not make it a fourth on Sunday?