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CHIEFS SUSPEND RB LARRY JOHNSON
October 28th – 7:18 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs have suspended RB Larry Johnson for Conduct Detrimental to the Club effective immediately. Johnson will not be permitted to participate in any team activities or be on team premises until Monday, November 9th. The Chiefs will have no further comment on Johnson’s status at this time.

PRICE RE-JOINS TEAM
October 28th – 4:49 PM

Multiple sources have reported that the Chiefs will welcome back S Ricky Price to the practice squad. Price fills the Chiefs open practice squad roster slot after T Chris Patrick was plucked off the developmental roster earlier this week by the 49ers. Patrick is now part of San Francisco’s 54-man active roster.

Price represents the third transaction involving the Chiefs practice squad since Sunday. In addition to the Patrick transaction, WR Quinten Lawrence was placed on the practice squad Tuesday morning after clearing waivers following his Saturday release.

Fans may remember Ricky Price as #35 in River Falls. He was the Chiefs fifth safety during camp and was released during training camp’s final cut-down day. Price originally joined the team as a rookie free agent this past spring out of Oklahoma State.

FORMER COACH PASSES AWAY
October 28th – 3:26 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs organization is mourning the passing of longtime Chiefs assistant coach Darvin Wallis. Wallis, 60, spent 26 seasons in the NFL coaching ranks with Kansas City and Cleveland. He spent 19 seasons with the Chiefs as a defensive assistant/quality control coach before his retirement in January of 2008. He is survived by his wife Vicky and three sons: Tyson, Darvin, Jr. and Austin.

“On behalf of my family and the entire Chiefs organization, we want to extend our deepest sympathies to Vicky and the Wallis family during this difficult time,” Hunt said. “Darvin worked tirelessly behind the scenes for the Chiefs for nearly 20 years. He was a beloved figure at Arrowhead, and we will always remember and appreciate his lasting contributions to our team.”

Wallis’ 19-year tenure with Kansas City ranked as the second-longest stint by an assistant coach in franchise history, trailing only Tom Pratt (21 years). Wallis also joined Pratt by holding the distinction of becoming the only other assistant coach in club history to serve under four different head coaches. Wallis worked under Marty Schottenheimer, Gunther Cunningham, Dick Vermeil and Herm Edwards. He began his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns under head coach Sam Rutigliano in ‘82. Schottenheimer and Rutigliano joined Hunt in expressing their condolences on Wallis’ passing.

“He was at the forefront of the coaching profession’s analysis of trends through video analysis,” Schottenheimer said. “In the role in which he was cast, I’ve never been with one better – the best I was ever involved with. The thoughts and prayers of Pat and I are with the Wallis family in its time of sorrow.” “Darvin was truly at the cutting edge when it came to introducing computer technology into the NFL,” Rutigliano said. “In terms of applying research and development to the strategy of the game, he was at the forefront of that movement. He was a marvelously talented individual. All of us who knew him so well will miss him deeply.”

A 36-year coaching veteran, Wallis was a member of 14 playoffs teams, including nine with the Chiefs. He was one of only six assistant coaches in Kansas City history to serve more than one full decade with the club. In addition, he was one of 19 coaches in NFL history to work for a team in all 10 years of a 100-win decade as Kansas City produced a 102-58 record from ‘90-99.

Prior to joining the Chiefs, Wallis served in a similar capacity for seven years under Schottenheimer and Rutigliano with the Cleveland Browns (’82-88). Before embarking on his NFL coaching career, he tutored the tight ends and tackles at the University of Mississippi (’80-81). He also was the offensive line and strength coach at Tulane (’78-79) and oversaw the offensive front at Adams State (’76-77). The Fort Branch, Indiana native began his coaching career at Wilcox High School (’72) before taking the head coaching reins at Ajo High School in Ajo, Arizona (’73-75).

A memorial service for Wallis will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 7th at the Overland Park Baptist Temple – 11648 Antioch Rd, Overland Park, KS 66210. The Wallis family has requested memorials in the honor of Darvin Wallis be directed to Voice of the Martyrs (c/o Brenda Matlock) – P.O. Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005.

SMITH SAYS HE’S READY
October 28th – 3:23 PM

The focus has most definitely turned towards RBs Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith as Larry Johnson continues an absence from any and all team activities. Smith has yet to be officially activated, but he is now practicing with the team and that move could come at any moment over the next two weeks.

“Mentally I’m in the game,” Smith said. “Knowing plays I’m in the game. It’s just about a little technique here and there.“

Smith has had to fight quite a battle to become relevant once again for this football team. Not only has Smith undergone almost a full-year of rehab on his knee, but he’s also battled to catch up mentally. It’s easy to forget that Smith partook in none of the organized team activities under the guidance of a new staff last spring.

“It felt like a year,” Smith said. “First getting over the injury and learning how to talk again, jog and make cuts. Not doing anything with the team through the OTAs or training camp and up until the season until the last week. It felt like a long time.“

Wait a second…so Kolby had to learn how to walk again? The injury was that bad?

“Yeah,” Smith said when asked if he really had to learn to walk again. “My leg was in a cast for six weeks straight. Then I had to learn how to bend it and lift it again. It was a whole bunch of stuff.“

It appears that Smith has already conquered the first hurdle when dealing with a comeback from injury - personal confidence. Now, he’ll work one phase two - installing confidence regarding his play inside the Chiefs coaching meetings.

“Last week, I went through my first hit,” Smith explained. “I got hit my Demorrio (Williams) and Tamba (Hali). It was instant. Right there all of the jitters went out of my and I’m good now.

“I am very confident in my body,” Smith finished.

NOT SO FAST
October 28th – 2:42 PM

Got bye weekend plans? Tickets to the big college game or a flight home? Not so fast my friends.

If you’re a player on the Kansas City Chiefs, you have the earn your time off. Generally, NFL players are given at least Friday, Saturday and Sunday off of work during a team’s bye weekend. That is the same schedule that the Chiefs will follow…IF they practice well.

Following a 1-6 beginning to head coach Todd Haley’s first season at the helm, Haley isn’t guaranteeing an off weekend unless he’s sees a series of crisp practice sessions.

“That’s not for sure,” Haley said regarding the presumed three-day weekend. “We’re evaluating these three days and then there is a potential of a Saturday practice.“

For a veteran like QB Brodie Croyle, that news didn’t come as any surprise.

“One thing that I’ve learning over four years in the NFL is that you don’t make weekend plans during the season,” Croyle said.

The players have known about this “clause” since the reported to work on Monday morning following the 37-7 loss to San Diego. Thus far, however, it seems that Haley has been pleased with the team’s bye week progress.

“We knew it from Monday,” WR Mark Bradley said. “We just have to go out and practice hard and do the things that we need to do to get that day off. We’ll just go out there and do the things that we need to do.”

WEDNESDAY PRACTICE REPORT
October 28th – 11:59 AM

RB Larry Johnson was not in the building for the second consecutive day. RB Jamaal Charles took reps in Johnson’s place with the first team once again today.

T Branden Albert worked the the first-team offense today in full dress, however he still showed a bit of a limp while sprinting.

S Jon McGraw (leg) was the only player in the rehab area today. WR Lance Long (head) returned to the field, while C Rudy Niswanger (knee) was not at practice today.

Wade Smith took first-team reps at center, while practice squad player Darryl Harris took second-team reps behind Smith. Andy Alleman continued to work at guard.

GETTING “IT”
October 28th – 9:28 AM

“(insert player name) is starting to get it.“

”(insert player name) gets it.“

“I think that (insert player name) is working hard and is finally starting to get it.“

Take your pick on how it’s stated, but Chiefs head coach Todd Haley constantly refers to players as either getting “it,” got “it,” on the verge of having “it” or not getting “it.” Okay. So what exactly is “it”?

Yesterday, during all the hustle and bustle of the press conference following the team’s decision that barred RB Larry Johnson from all team activities, Haley dropped this line - for the second straight day.

“I think that Jamaal is starting to get it,” Haley said.

We all have an idea of what “it” means, but it’s never fully been defined by the Chiefs head coach. So, naturally, the follow-up question became - what’s your definition of “it”?

”(It means) he’s shown that he’s mentally tough, that he can persevere and some bad things can happen to him that he can overcome and not go into the tank so to speak,” Haley explained. “Those are all good signs on top of the fact that I think he’s pretty talented.“

There you have it, the mystery is solved. Forty-nine words all wrapped up into one. Pretty efficient if you ask me.

WHAT’S NEXT?
October 28th – 6:00 AM

So what comes next with the saga involving Chiefs RB Larry Johnson?

The question has been tweeted, emailed, phoned and texted. Then it’s been re-tweeted, forwarded, redialed and texted again. It’s the million dollar question surrounding the Chiefs right now, and everybody wants insight and an immediate answer.

While I don’t know the next course of action that the club will take, what I can tell you is that I expect the Chiefs to act promptly and swiftly. The team has already talked about the situation in two different press conferences since the incidents occurred (one press conference took place just hours after the alleged locker room encounter). Yesterday, the team issued a statement about the matter before a total of 24 hours had passed.

The statement, although not a suspension, is effectively keeping Johnson from any and all team functions indefinitely. Based off of the team’s swift actions regarding the statement, it appears that an prompt decision will be made precisely when all details have been received and validated (or proved invalid) by both NFL and team officials.

For the time being, however, the reality is that Larry Johnson is not part of this football team. No, he hasn’t been fined, suspended or released, but he also wasn’t part of the Chiefs Tuesday afternoon practice at Arrowhead and he isn’t expected to be at today’s practice either. So, for today at least, the Chiefs are preparing for life without Larry Johnson.

Since Johnson took over the primary rushing duties from Priest Holmes in 2005, the Chiefs have only been without LJ’s services for 12 games. The club’s record in those games stands at 0-12. So, yeah, Johnson may be struggling through the worst season of his career, but the Chiefs still haven’t won a football game in three-plus seasons without him. In short, the potential absence of Johnson is something to plan for if you’re running this team.

The start of those preparations begins with Jamaal Charles and ends with Kolby Smith – both young backs with a combined 44 games of NFL experience. Charles took first-team reps in place of Johnson yesterday afternoon and it looks like he’s a player poised to take on a bigger role regardless of LJ’s fate.

“I think Jamaal has shown signs that he is starting to get it,” Haley said. “You average 8.3 per carry in limited carries, he’s doing things. He’s showing up to us in the meeting room and out on the practice field. I’m excited right from the start how this running position is going to start out.”

The knock on Charles is that he’s not perceived to be an every-down NFL runner – he just doesn’t have the frame and stature to take an every down beating. I guess you never know until you try, right? There have been a number of smaller, shifty runners who have made their living as everyday runners. The “too small” argument gets squashed time and time again in the NFL.

The real issue with Charles is consistency. He’s been a bit of a “feast or famine” type of player throughout his first 21 games as a pro. There are those electrifying, potential game-breaking runs, but there are also fumbles and missed assignments to along with the electricity.

“I’ll say this about Jamaal: He didn’t have a perfect day (Sunday), but Jamaal is kind of growing on me,” Haley said on Monday. “I think he’s got a little more fight in him than I probably initially thought. I would see Jamaal continuing to get better. He had a chance to make a real big play in the game yesterday that we didn’t connect on which would have been a huge play at the time and kind of got us back into the game.

“We’ve kind of been incorporating him more and more into the game,” Haley continued. “Again, I like the direction Jamaal is heading and he obviously has some big play ability or we wouldn’t have him in some of those spots. He had two real nice carries in the game.”

Obviously, Jamaal Charles appears to be option number one. Option number two at the moment appears to be Dantrell Savage – at least it appeared that way during yesterday’s practice. Savage is a guy who is very similar to Charles, but a bit less explosive while being a bit more consistent with the football.

Then there is the “wild card.” Option number three, Kolby Smith. Smith is a guy who has already shown the ability to carry the football 20-plus times a game. He toted the rock 31 times for a franchise rookie-record 150 yards in his first NFL start while filling in for Johnson in 2007.

But Smith is also coming off a knee injury that hasn’t allowed him to step onto the game field in exactly one year when next Monday (11/2) rolls around. Smith is a back who fits somewhere between Charles and Johnson, and is one who can certainly help chew up carries. But how much is a fair workload for a player who will have been away from contact for 370 days once the Jacksonville game arrives on November 8th?

“I’ve said from the start that running back is a position of strength of us,” Haley said. “Kolby Smith has had a tough go here. This is coming up on 12 months for him. I like the guy and I really do. I like the way he works; I like his attitude; I like his character. From what I can tell, he comes from good blood lines. His cousin is Mike Brown, one of my favorite players. I like a lot about Kolby and I hope it works out for him because I think he would be a big asset for us.”

The Chiefs certainly are strong at running back…with Johnson. Without Johnson, the Chiefs have an opportunity to be strong at running back, but the results are far from certain. There are a number of unknowns, and the chapters are yet to be written. But what about the street? Are there any “known’s” on the street? Free agent runners without a home certainly include a number of well known names, but whether or not any of them have the ability to be an every-down running back is debatable. Most of the free agent runners look to be complimentary-type backs.

The best available running backs in free agency are as follows: Dominic Rhodes, Warrick Dunn, Deuce McAllister, T.J. Duckett, Selvin Young, Kenny Watson, DeShaun Foster, Shaun Alexander, Rudi Johnson, Tatum Bell and Najeh Davenport.

Football fans are likely familiar, or have at least heard of, each runner listed above. I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions as to where each of those players would stack up compared to the Chiefs current batch of runners, and exactly how each would be used if they indeed landed in Kansas City.

Regardless of what happens with Johnson, in the long-term or in the short-term, it appears that somebody may very well get their chance to be a feature back for at least some period of time. All Chiefs fans can do is sit back and take notes. It will be a first go-round for everyone involved.

The auditions began yesterday.