Fox might start at linebacker for Chiefs
Edwards says he may bench disappointing veteran Bell
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Somebody figured to pay for the Chiefs’ recent defensive collapse. It may be underachieving linebacker Kendrell Bell.
Bell was benched late in Sunday’s 20-10 loss to Baltimore at Arrowhead Stadium. Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs were considering using Keyaron Fox as the starter instead of Bell in Sunday’s game against the Chargers in San Diego.
“We don’t know that yet,” Edwards said. “We’ll sit around, have a roundtable and figure out what we’re going to do. He’s going to play some more. I know that.”
Fox appeared to outplay Bell in training camp and the preseason. The Chiefs stayed with Bell in the hope he would have a bigger impact than he did last season, when he was their major free-agent addition but failed to deliver much.
Although Bell has played better than last season, his impact has been minimal. Signed in large part because of his pass-rush ability, Bell has just one sack.
“He’s been OK at times,” said Edwards, choosing his words carefully. “At times he’s not played up to the standards I think he wants to play at. We’ve got a lot of guys like that. They’ve been kind of up or down. It’s not just him.”
Fox recently made four starts for the injured Derrick Johnson. He was the Chiefs’ leading tackler in three of them.
Bell has been a regular in all 13 games. Fox has just the four starts. But Fox has 50 tackles, four more than Bell.
The move is being considered as the Chiefs try to salvage their season. Their two-game losing streak dropped the Chiefs to 7-6 and a game behind Jacksonville and Cincinnati for the AFC’s two wild-card berths.
San Diego has already clinched the AFC West championship.
Fox was the Chiefs’ third-round draft pick in 2004. He played almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie, missed most of last season because of a knee injury and was mostly a special-teams player again this season until Johnson injured his ankle last month in a game against the Rams in St. Louis.
“He’s been what I call a flashy player,” Edwards said. “He flashes some, and then he does some things that make you scratch your head and say, ‘Why did he do that?’ Maybe it’s because he hasn’t played a lot. He’s a third-year guy that hasn’t played a lot of football, but he’s starting to get the opportunity to do that now. He’s got to figure out what he wants to do. Does he want to play a lot or does he want to beat somebody out and be a starter?
“He’s got some talent. The thing young guys battle against is consistency. (Inconsistency) is the thing that kills you. You’ve got to have consistent players. If you don’t, your play varies. Some of that has to do with the fact he hasn’t played a lot. It’s almost like he’s a rookie. He hasn’t been on the field a lot even though he’s a third-year player. You can’t judge him harshly because he hasn’t really played a lot.”
The Chiefs already have one first-year defensive starter in rookie end Tamba Hali. He is second on the Chiefs behind Jared Allen in sacks with five, but he hasn’t brought down the quarterback during the two-game losing streak.
Two other rookies, safeties Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page, have played in spots in place of veteran starters Greg Wesley and Sammy Knight. Edwards said the Chiefs were planning no lineup changes at those positions.
Wesley missed a tackle two weeks ago on Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson in overtime, which led to the Browns’ game-winning field goal. Wesley and Ty Law were in the wrong positions on Baltimore’s 87-yard touchdown pass Sunday.
“They’re working and competing,” Edwards said of Pollard and Page. “They’re still a work in progress. You judge everything on who are the most productive players.
“(Wesley and Knight) have been more consistent. To me, if you’re a young player, you’ve got to beat the veteran out. We’re not going to give you a job. You’ve got to beat the guy out, period.”
