Angel
05-30-2006, 08:09 AM
Team Report: Inside Slant
Chiefs veterans got their first extended look at the program new coach Herm Edwards wants to run during a three-day mini-camp that concluded May 21. They generally liked what they saw.
Work hard, work fast and then get out of here. In four sessions over a three-day period, the older Chiefs learned that their workdays under Edwards would be intense, but probably not as prolonged as they were in five seasons under old-school coach Dick Vermeil, for whom 2 1/2-hour midweek practices were common.
"(Edwards') focus is on getting in, getting your work done in a quality manner and then getting out of here to rest your legs," noted quarterback Trent Green, who turns 36 in July and will be one of seven 30-something starters on the Chiefs offense.
"Coach Vermeil was into having longer practices, believing that longer work meant you'd be better late in the season," added Green, making it clear he was not being critical of the former coach, with whom he enjoys a lasting relationship. "Coach Edwards is more into keeping guys fresh."
It also became obvious to Green and all other offensive players that Edwards, a 10-year cornerback during his NFL career, remains a defensive player at heart. Edwards, brought to Kansas City in large part to turn around a Kansas City defense that has ranked among the league's worst in the last four seasons, could be heard playfully telling his receivers that if they planned to catch passes over the middle against his new secondary, they should plan on being belted.
It's an approach that Green and the offense, the kings of the hill during the five-year reign of the offensive-minded Vermeil, readily accept.
"We're having a lot of give and take (between offense and defense), and that's fun," he said. "I've had that in the past with Gunther (Cunningham, KC's defensive coordinator) and some of the defensive players. Now we've got a head coach who tends to side with the defense -- it's his comfort zone, what he did as a player -- but that certainly isn't a negative for the offense."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/teamReport?categoryId=67049&type=InsideSlant
Chiefs veterans got their first extended look at the program new coach Herm Edwards wants to run during a three-day mini-camp that concluded May 21. They generally liked what they saw.
Work hard, work fast and then get out of here. In four sessions over a three-day period, the older Chiefs learned that their workdays under Edwards would be intense, but probably not as prolonged as they were in five seasons under old-school coach Dick Vermeil, for whom 2 1/2-hour midweek practices were common.
"(Edwards') focus is on getting in, getting your work done in a quality manner and then getting out of here to rest your legs," noted quarterback Trent Green, who turns 36 in July and will be one of seven 30-something starters on the Chiefs offense.
"Coach Vermeil was into having longer practices, believing that longer work meant you'd be better late in the season," added Green, making it clear he was not being critical of the former coach, with whom he enjoys a lasting relationship. "Coach Edwards is more into keeping guys fresh."
It also became obvious to Green and all other offensive players that Edwards, a 10-year cornerback during his NFL career, remains a defensive player at heart. Edwards, brought to Kansas City in large part to turn around a Kansas City defense that has ranked among the league's worst in the last four seasons, could be heard playfully telling his receivers that if they planned to catch passes over the middle against his new secondary, they should plan on being belted.
It's an approach that Green and the offense, the kings of the hill during the five-year reign of the offensive-minded Vermeil, readily accept.
"We're having a lot of give and take (between offense and defense), and that's fun," he said. "I've had that in the past with Gunther (Cunningham, KC's defensive coordinator) and some of the defensive players. Now we've got a head coach who tends to side with the defense -- it's his comfort zone, what he did as a player -- but that certainly isn't a negative for the offense."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/teamReport?categoryId=67049&type=InsideSlant