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ALLEMAN EXPECTED TO START AT RIGHT GUARD
November 8th – 12:49 PM EST

Andy Alleman is expected to start at right guard today in place of Mike Goff. Goff has been battling a shoulder injury throughout the week, but will remain active. It looks like Goff’s 113-game consecutive start streak will come to an end.

STATUS OF BOBBY WADE
November 8th – 12:00 PM EST

WR Bobby Wade is the lone surprise on the Chiefs inactive list. With the acquisition of Chris Chambers, the Chiefs had to make a tough decision about sitting a receiver down today. Wade’s trip to the bench sends a strong signal that the Chiefs want to get an extended look at Lance Long and an immediate look at Chambers.

Wade has handled the Chiefs punt return duties for the majority of the season. The likely candidate to take over those chores today is CB Maurice Leggett.

INACTIVES ARE IN
November 8th – 11:34 AM EST

CHIEFS

QB       15        Matt Gutierrez (3rd)
CB       20        Donald Washington
S          47        Jon McGraw
G/T      60        Ikechuku Ndukwe
WR      80        Bobby Wade
TE       85        Jake O’Connell
TE       87        Brad Cottam
LB        97        Pierre Walters

JAGUARS
WR      19        Tiquan Underwood
S          20        Anthony Smith
CB       38        Brian Witherspoon
LB        55        Adam Seward
DT       66        Derek Landri
G         74        Maurice Williams
T          78        Jordan Black
DT       93        Greg Peterson

CHIEFS ACTIVATE RB KOLBY SMITH FROM PUP
November 7th – 5:00 PM EST

As anticipated, RB Kolby Smith traveled with the Chiefs to Jacksonville and has officially been activated to the club’s 53-man roster. WR Bobby Engram was released to make room for Smith on the active roster.

Smith last played in an NFL game on November 2, 2008 vs. Tampa Bay. He left that contest with a serious knee injury while filling in for a suspended Larry Johnson. He recently completed an extensive rehabilitation process, earning medical clearance from team doctors. Smith joins Jamaal Charles and Dantrell Savage in the Chiefs backfield for Sunday’s game. Although Smith anticipates seeing game action tomorrow, Charles is expected to start at running back.

Engram served as a veteran leader amongst Kansas City’s wide receivers core,  but had been a healthy inactive in two of the past three games. Engram’s departure opens the door for Lance Long to receive more playing time as Kansas City’s slot receiver. The arrival of Chris Chambers earlier this week gave the Chiefs seven rostered receivers, the most they had carried under head coach Todd Haley.

JAGUARS MAKE ROSTER MOVE
November 7th – 11:31 AM

The Jaguars tweaked their secondary Saturday morning when the team was awarded S Anthony Smith in a waiver claim from Pittsburgh. To complete the transaction, Jacksonville sent CB Scott Starks to injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Smith, 6-0, 200, has played in 48 games with 14 starts for Pittsburgh and St. Louis, with career totals of 99 tackles, four interceptions and 23 special teams tackles. Smith played in two games for the Rams this season after being claimed off waivers, finishing with five tackles, before he was waived on November 5th.

Smith was originally a third-round draft pick in 2006 by Pittsburgh, where he played in 46 games over three seasons. He signed with Green Bay on March 6th and was released during final cuts.

Starks played in five of the first seven games for the Jaguars this season and had seven tackles and two special teams tackles. The 2005 third-round pick has played in 54 career games and recorded 54 tackles and two interceptions.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS IN JAX
November 7th – 7:31 AM

Sunday’s game in Jacksonville marks the start of the second portion of the Chiefs schedule. The day presents many “team” opportunities for the Chiefs – chances to improve upon the various problem-areas that Chiefs head coach Todd Haley and his coaching staff emphasized as they self-scouted the Chiefs during the bye weekend.

Negative plays on offense, big plays on defense and slow starts all around have been just a few of the culprits that Haley has identified over the past two weeks.

“We did a lot of self-scout on ourselves,” Haley said. “But offensively because of the circumstances and the change that I’ve made in coordinator late in the pre-season we needed that time. I feel good about how the bye week went. The guys came out energized today and it looked like they got a little recharged and now we’ll see.”

Tomorrow afternoon, Chiefs fans will find out if the Chiefs hard work over the bye week pays off. But opportunities are running rampant this weekend from both a “team,” and an “individual” perspective. The Chiefs have two players, one on each side of the football, that are receiving major opportunities to lay their stake in the NFL.

The first player, who has been the primary focus of Chiefs coverage this week, is RB Jamaal Charles. Filling in for a suspended Larry Johnson, Charles is receiving his first professional opportunity to prepare as the Chiefs primary ball carrier. He’s a player that fans have longed to see get more touches over the course of this season, and it appears that we’ll learn a lot about Charles as a football player on Sunday.

But there is another major “individual” opportunity presented to a Chiefs player that has gone largely unnoticed, only this player resides on the defensive side of the football. This player is S DaJuan Morgan.

Earlier this week the Chiefs shelved Jarrad Page on injured reserve and Jon McGraw still battling a lingering thigh injury. The result has seen Morgan shift from strong safety to free safety, putting him in line for his first career NFL start.

Morgan has played sparingly this season in a backup role, but he got the attention of both coaches and fans when he turned in a huge preseason finale at St. Louis. Morgan was all over the field that night, and was easily the Chiefs defensive player of the game. He turned in seven tackles, two tackles for loss, a touchdown-saving pass breakup, a diving INT, several big hits and a number of other impressive coverage plays.

“It kind of was (a breakout game),” Morgan said following that game. “My main focus was to do everything within the play called and within the system to make plays.”

Haley still remembers Morgan’s big preseason game and, as a result, was comfortable with giving the 2008 third-round draft pick a chance to shine in the regular season.

“I think when DaJuan was in there in the preseason he’s done a pretty good job,” Haley remembered. “He had an interception in the St. Louis game. He has a nose for the football. He had a good week of practice along with the other guys. I wouldn’t say that I have any fear with him being back there. I think he’s ready to go. He’s got good speed, good ball skills, he’s a good tackler and I think he understands what we’re trying to do. Again, I think he’s much like a couple of the other guys who are getting a real opportunity this week.”

Unlike the rest of the Chiefs defense, possibly the biggest challenge that Morgan faces isn’t #32 – Maurice Jones-Drew. Although Morgan will play a critical role in helping to corral Jacksonville’s big-play producer, Morgan’s first hurdles to clear are the challenges that come with learning a new position.

It’s a general assumption by many that strong safety and free safety are nearly identical positions. This could be further from the truth. Alignment and coverage calls are much different, and the free safety is the guy who puts everyone on the same page before the snap. The free safety not only needs to know his own role, he also has to be an expert about the duties of every other player dropping into coverage.

“I didn’t think that it was going to be that much of a difference, but it really is,” Morgan said. “There are certain calls that a free makes, that a strong safety wouldn’t make. I just have to be on top of that and I still have to be prepared to play strong safety, just in case something happens. Knowing both of those is really a lot, but I’ve been studying both since camp, so I’m ready.

“I think that the hardest thing is just knowing what everyone has to do when you’re making audible calls and adjustments, making sure that guys are moving and in the right spot,” Morgan continued. “You have to make sure that they care hear you communicate. Just getting everybody lined up is the biggest role, and it comes with time and experience, and most of all knowing what you’re doing.”

Although Morgan feels comfortable with the role that he is being asked to play this weekend, he also takes comfort in having a 10-year veteran lining up next to him on each snap.

“Mike Brown has been a learning tool for me,” Morgan said. “Jon McGraw has been very instrumental as well. He comes to meetings and talks to me to make sure that I understand what’s going on, and checks, and audibles that I have to make.

“Just to make sure that I’m on the right track, I talk to both of those guys,” Morgan continued. “I know the stuff, but just talking to those guys makes me feel more comfortable.”

Haley is also comfortable with Morgan’s progress at the new position over the past week of practice, including Morgan’s ability to orchestrate coverage calls.

“They’ve got to quarterback the defense,” Haley said. “Mike does a great job of that (and) I think he’ll take some of the pressure off of DaJuan in that area. He still has to communicate and know what’s going on which, again, I feel comfortable with where he’s at.”

Morgan will likely be filled with an extra amount of adrenaline and excitement leading up to kickoff. He has played in just 20 defensive snaps this year, spanning over a course of three games. As a rookie in 2008, Morgan appeared in 10 games on defense, but always in a limited role. Tomorrow game is certainly a mark in Morgan’s career as a pro that he will never forget.

“I think a lot of it is experience and just relaxing and not getting too hyped up,” Haley said as he laid out keys of success for Morgan. “The time he’s been in games – and most of his play-time came in the preseason – I think he showed very good progress and I think he’s excited about the opportunity.”

Morgan is certainly excited for his opportunity on Sunday. Most importantly, however, he understands that focusing on his job and not trying to do too much is one of the most important factors that will make his NFL starting debut a successful one.

“I know what I’m doing,” Morgan said with a smile. “I’m just going to go out there, read my keys and execute. Everything else will take care of itself.”