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MORE LOOKS IN THE HURRY-UP?
October 15th – 4:12 PM

Should the Chiefs implement the hurry-up offense as part of their regular offensive package? Nobody expects Kansas City to turn to strictly a hurry-up style offense, but what about implementing the no huddle mode during various parts of the game. Maybe on the first offensive set of the game or during the middle of the third quarter for a change of pace.

The discussion of implementing the no huddle in more game situations has been a hot one among Chiefs fans. After all, the Chiefs looked mighty impressive during that final drive of regulation last Sunday vs. Dallas.

That game-tying drive may have been the most impressive offensive possession of the year for Kansas City. QB Matt Cassel had ample time to throw and both the quarterback and his receiving core played with poise and confidence. The Chiefs almost looked more comfortable running plays in a hurry-up setting, than playing out of their traditional sets.

”Two-minute situation is something that we practice each and every week,” Cassel said. “In terms of how comfortable we are in that, I hope that we are comfortable because it’s always a situation that may come up and it’s an important situation because it gave us the opportunity to win the game last week.

“It’s a lot of familiarity with the plays and how we want to attack certain defenses,” Cassel continued. “We know that when two minutes comes up, we have to make plays. All of a sudden, you hit one big play and then you hit another one and you start moving the field and you get into a rhythm. Sometimes the defense doesn’t have time to set up and we’re able to move the ball. We made a big play at the end, WR Dwayne Bowe made a great catch in the end zone and the rest is history. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win which is great to see.”

Was that drive just an outlier or was it the start of something that can be effective for this offensive group? As the Chiefs have struggled to find an identity on the offensive side of the football, we’ve already seen Haley try a multitude of different tactics to give his team an advantage.

The Chiefs have already lined up in the wildcat formation, run a double reverse, tried a flea-flicker, let WR Mark Bradley attempt a reverse throwback pass to RB Jamaal Charles and thrown a touchdown pass to a linebacker. Why not give the hurry-up offense a longer look? Certainly, anything is possible for this group as Haley looks to give his offense a dose of confidence in some way, shape or form.

”I think it always gives you confidence, when your back is against the wall like we were last week and it was crunch time,” Cassel said. “I told the offense, ‘this is it right now. If we don’t get it done, we don’t have a chance to win the game,’ and everybody responded and we went down, and it builds confidence, there’s no doubt about that.”

Each week the Chiefs have tried something new on offense. Maybe the no huddle in a non-urgent clock situation will be tested this weekend. Then again, maybe it won’t.

“I don’t know,” Haley said earlier this week when asked if the no-huddle look may seen more of an influence on game day. “If it’s something that gives us a better chance I would be for that. It’s something I’ve had a lot of experience with. Anything that will give us a chance to play good on either side of the ball we need to do.”

But one thing is for certain with this Chiefs offense: expect to see something unexpected on Sunday.

INJURY REPORT NO BETTER FOR TWO CHIEFS
October 15th – 3:35 PM

Two key starters remained on the Chiefs injury reports as non-participants Thursday. T Branden Albert (ankle) and S Jarrad Page (shoulder) both missed their second consecutive day of work, in full.

”Still both out,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “They’re definitely feeling better and have made some progress. There’s no doubt about that, but they did not participate.“

Albert was seen wearing a protective boot outdoors on the sidelines the practice field and inside the practice facility. Friday will likely be a big day for the prognosis of each player. C/G Andy Alleman (shoulder) returned to work in a limited role.

Out east, the Redskins were once again without T Chris Samuels, DE Phillip Daniels (biceps) and P Hunter Smith (groin). Head coach Jim Zorn has ruled Samuels out for this Sunday’s game against Kansas City, but expects Daniels to be able to play. Daniels actually tore the bicep muscle off the lower part of his arm. Zorn said that Daniels will continue to play and eventually have surgery to reattach the muscle this offseason. Talk about having a high pain threshold.

Washington DT Cornelius Griffin (elbow) was upgraded to a limited practice participant on Thursday.

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS
October 15th – 3:23 PM

It’s been a pretty miserable week in Kansas City from a weather perspective. The sun hasn’t come out in days. It’s been cold. It’s been rainy. It’s been windy. This week has provided the perfect opportunity to practice indoors.

The Chiefs, however, continue to battle the elements each day…outside.

”I just think that having been in Arizona for two years I really thought that was something that hurt us – the fact that it was too nice all the time,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. ”We were never in the mental mindset to play in those conditions. I think it can be a huge advantage for us here as long as it’s not holding us back. I think the fields are a little bit of an issue when it’s messy but I still think the benefits outweigh the negatives. I just think it’ll help develop the mindset that we need to be a championship team.“

Haley’s approach is a stark contrast from what this team has experience under previous leadership. In the past, just the simple threat of rain would cause the team to hold practice indoors.

“We have a lot of outside game this year, so it’s good to get acclimated to the environment,” QB Matt Cassel said. “The weather forecast for Sunday is pretty bleak, so it’s good to be out here in the weather and getting used to the conditions.“

The fact that the Chiefs are practicing outdoors in less than desirable conditions may not be major news, but this  is just another example of the different coaching style that Haley brings with him to Kansas City. It should be noted that Haley was also wearing shorts at practice today. Haley’s “shorts in the cold” look drew a few chuckles from onlookers who were used to seeing former head coach Herm Edwards wear a sweatshirt in 100-plus degree weather.

Different strokes for different folks.

TRADE DEADLINE DISTRACTIONS?
October 15th – 2:59 PM

In a league of few trades, there sure has been a lot of attention put forth regarding the looming NFL trade deadline on October 21st. Maybe the reason is that the trade deadline gives people something to talk about during the middle of the NFL season, or maybe it’s because Kansas City is a team who has already made their fair share of dealings this season.

Compared to other teams around the league and past trade activity in Kansas City, trades in 2009 have definitely already shot past previous year totals. Are the Chiefs at their quota or could we see more?

So much outside talk involving potential trades and potential trade candidates can sometimes distract a locker room. For Chiefs players, however, that talk hasn’t spread into the locker room walls.

“I don’t think that any of the guys care about that stuff,” RB Larry Johnson said. “Nobody is really talking about it. At least not in this locker room. We’re all just focusing on the Redskins and helping the team get this first win. That’s the biggest thing.

“Obviously we know about the trade deadline,” Johnson said. “Anytime we’re watching TV we hear about other players, but we don’t really concern ourselves with the trade deadline stuff.”

THURSDAY PRACTICE REPORT
October 15th – 11:51 AM

The artificial crowd noise was turned up a notch this morning at Chiefs practice. T Branden Albert continued to rehab his injured ankle by using the stationary bikes on the sidelines.

Other players missing from action today included S Jarrad Page and RB Kolby Smith. G/C Andy Alleman returned to practice this morning after missing Wednesday’s session.

We also saw two faces who haven’t been seen outdoors in quite sometime. The Chiefs injured reserve players, LB Weston Dacus and G/T Colin Brown, were working out to the side along with RB Jackie Battle. Battle was placed on injured reserve yesterday with a shoulder injury that will likely require surgery. He was replaced on the 53-man roster by LB Justin Rogers.

LB JUSTIN ROGERS OFFICIAL
October 15th – 7:23 AM

Chiefs announced on Thursday that the club has signed free agent LB Justin Rogers.

DUE DILIGENCE
October 15th – 6:11 AM

When Chiefs head coach Todd Haley arrived in February fresh off an NFC Championship run with Arizona, he immediately noticed the difference between a Super Bowl team and a 4-12 team. Fat.

We all know the story. Many players on the Chiefs roster began to let themselves slide at the end of a season that was what ultimately set the stage for a complete offseason overhaul. With two games left to play, Chiefs players faced uncertainty. Their general manger had announced his resignation and the future of their head coach was in limbo, as was the rest of the coaching staff. By the time Haley arrived, players had let themselves slide. In short, the Chiefs were fat.

It turns out that the Chiefs were actually some 800 pounds overweight. That’s about how much fat was eventually shed by the time training camp opened in July. Even though 800 pounds is literally a lot of weight, it can be argued that the actual number is indeed higher than that. A handful of players, like Chiefs DE Glenn Dorsey, failed Haley’s conditioning test on the opening day of training camp and had to shed even more pounds before they were allowed to practice.

What began as a tremulous season for Dorsey has turned into the early glimpses of a breakout campaign for the second-year player. The new-look Dorsey defines body sculpting. Don’t be surprised if “Body By Jake” endorsements start coming in.

“It’s been a long road and Glenn has got himself in condition now,” Haley said today. “He’s at the weight we assigned to him which probably looked like an impossibility back in the spring. I think that’s starting to pay dividends for him. His overall stamina is much better where he can play like that motor I’ve been talking about in Tamba (Hali). Those defensive linemen and linebackers have to be in better condition than everybody else so they can play at that high level of intensity every single snap.”

What’s even more improbable about Dorsey is his rise to becoming the cornerstone of the Chiefs defensive line. That was the Chiefs initial view for the young player from LSU when they selected him fifth overall back in April of 2008 during the NFL Draft. But after just his first 15 months on the job, Dorsey faced a grueling battle to just get on the practice field and begin training camp.

He failed Haley’s conditioning test, become one of the final Chiefs to start camp and was sitting in the doghouse of all doghouses if there ever was such a thing. But Dorsey isn’t one to give up. He climbed and he climbed, first ultimately finding himself a way back on the field and second, back into a starting role. He reshaped his body and then ultimately reshaped his image in the eyes of the Chiefs new coaching staff.

The fruit 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 the 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. (Tyson Jackson has seen the second-most action by appearing in 194 total plays for 38.8 per game average).

“Even early on in the season, you could see Glenn fight to get to that weight,” Haley said. “He wasn’t really there yet so there was some up and down play. It might be one play on and one play off. We can’t have that. But two out of the last three weeks he’s been more like what you’d envision him being. I think this week is critical for him to build on last week which was probably his best game overall.”

Dorsey’s commitment has put him in the category of a guy who “gets it.” Right now, that’s one of the biggest compliments a player can receive from this head coach. What began as Dorsey not being able to find the field has turned into the Chiefs not being able to get Dorsey off of it.

“He wants to be a part of this,” Haley said. “That’s number one. Like I’ve said, we’re looking for players that are the right kind of guys and we didn’t know any of these guys. But now we’ve spent a significant amount of time with them. I think that’s what we’re in the process of doing: finding those guys who truly want to be a part of something special here.

Glenn, to me, has bought in with how he’s worked and fought to get to where he needs to be,” Haley continued. “The guy obviously has skill to play in the NFL or he wouldn’t have been taken where he was taken. I think that skill is starting to show itself now.”

It’s safe to say that Dorsey is no longer in the “dog house.” Despite reports heard ‘round the league from various media outlets as we approach the trade deadline, Dorsey looks like he’s part of the Chiefs future plans. Dorsey is beginning to come out of his shell, transforming into the player who was that “can’t miss” prospect just 17 months ago.

“He can be a very disruptive player up front,” Haley said. “He’s got very good quickness and explosion where he needs to be and he can play with the intensity he needs to play with.”

Keep in mind that we’re just 21 games into Dorsey’s professional career and just five games into his transformation into a new body and a new defense. Anyone who knows Glenn Dorsey will tell you that he’s not the type of guy who anyone should count out. Sometimes it just takes some time to figure it out.

“They’re new guys and we’re new guys,” Dorsey said of the Chiefs new regime. “We didn’t really know them and they didn’t really know us. You build a relationship every day, literally. I just had to figure out what they wanted from me and how they want me to do things, then go out and do my best to do it.”