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Chiefs may be getting Welbourn back on line
Suspended tackle is expected to practice with the team next week.
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
After months of inconsistency, help may be on the way for the Chiefs’ offense.
Twice-suspended offensive tackle John Welbourn will join the team next week for practice, a source close to the situation said Tuesday. Welbourn, a staple on a line that paved the way for the NFL’s No. 1 offense last year, retired unexpectedly last summer, then was suspended for six weeks for violating the league’s drug policy.
Welbourn also sat for four games at the start of 2005 for steroid use. At the time of his second suspension in September, the Chiefs said they’d wait to decide whether to take him back. Now Welbourn will work out Oct. 23, and the club will have a two-week commissioner’s exemption to determine his physical status.
The Chiefs lost both of their starting tackles by training camp, as 11-time Pro Bowler Willie Roaf announced his retirement just as the team was heading for River Falls, Wis. It got worse from there. Quarterback Trent Green was knocked unconscious in the season opener and still hasn’t returned to the field.
Then left tackle Kyle Turley’s back problems flared up, and on Sunday, the Chiefs lost starting fullback Ronnie Cruz for the season because of a knee injury. So Welbourn, who was steady at right tackle last year, would be a welcome addition, assuming he’s stayed in football shape.
During last year’s time away from the team, Welbourn worked out daily at Athletes Performance in Carson, Calif. He slid into the rotation in his first week back.
Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, whose team is coming off a 45-7 pasting at Pittsburgh, repeated his mantra Tuesday about how he doesn’t use excuses or worry about who’s in or out — he just coaches the 11 players available on the field. But it’s obvious the doctors’ notes are piling up.
Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson, who ran for nine straight 100-yard games at the end of 2005, had just 26 yards in 15 carries Sunday. And the Chiefs’ once-vaunted offense is now 26th in the NFL.
“We’re all frustrated because of the way we played last week,” Edwards said. “Prior to that, we played halfway decent. We didn’t play well, and I can’t worry about why because I’ve got to worry about San Diego. You never know why.
“We’ve got to play better, and I anticipate we’ll play better. We have no choice. It’s a division game. We know it.”
Ah, the Chargers. They’re not exactly a get-well-soon matchup for the offense since they have the No. 1 defense in the NFL. But Edwards put on a happy face Tuesday and compared last weekend’s events to a playoff game he had in New York when his Jets beat the Colts 41-0.
Sometimes, he said, it’s just one team’s day.
“They hit us, and we didn’t react,” Edwards said.
“At halftime, it’s 31-0, and what do you tell your football team? What does the chalkboard say? You don’t need to worry about the play. You know what you need to do? You’d better play the second half or you might get hurt. To this football team’s credit, they played the second half.”
Long before the team got on a flight back to Kansas City, the airwaves were crackling with criticism. Edwards came to town in January to take the Chiefs to the playoffs and beyond with a defense-first mentality. In the months that have followed, he’s been blasted for a conservative offense and predictable play-calling.
He bristled Tuesday at the notion that his team was predictable. The Chiefs threw the ball 39 times, more than twice as much as they ran it. And in this 2-3 start, nothing has gone to script.
“It’s no different than when I went to New York,” Edwards said. “I was going to do it a certain way, and I didn’t bat an eye up there and I’m not going to bat an eye here, believe me. They hired me to come here and really be who I am. That’s what I’m gonna do, and there’s going to be some ups and downs and you know it.
“The thing you can’t do is you can’t get distracted by all of the sudden everyone telling you how to run your program. Because there’s only 32 head coaches last time I checked, and my name’s on the door and I’ve got to make sure that I do it the way I want to do it, because, if not, then it becomes coach of the week. I’m going to do it my way. I get that from my mom. I’m stubborn.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/15783821.htm
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Suspended tackle is expected to practice with the team next week.
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
After months of inconsistency, help may be on the way for the Chiefs’ offense.
Twice-suspended offensive tackle John Welbourn will join the team next week for practice, a source close to the situation said Tuesday. Welbourn, a staple on a line that paved the way for the NFL’s No. 1 offense last year, retired unexpectedly last summer, then was suspended for six weeks for violating the league’s drug policy.
Welbourn also sat for four games at the start of 2005 for steroid use. At the time of his second suspension in September, the Chiefs said they’d wait to decide whether to take him back. Now Welbourn will work out Oct. 23, and the club will have a two-week commissioner’s exemption to determine his physical status.
The Chiefs lost both of their starting tackles by training camp, as 11-time Pro Bowler Willie Roaf announced his retirement just as the team was heading for River Falls, Wis. It got worse from there. Quarterback Trent Green was knocked unconscious in the season opener and still hasn’t returned to the field.
Then left tackle Kyle Turley’s back problems flared up, and on Sunday, the Chiefs lost starting fullback Ronnie Cruz for the season because of a knee injury. So Welbourn, who was steady at right tackle last year, would be a welcome addition, assuming he’s stayed in football shape.
During last year’s time away from the team, Welbourn worked out daily at Athletes Performance in Carson, Calif. He slid into the rotation in his first week back.
Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, whose team is coming off a 45-7 pasting at Pittsburgh, repeated his mantra Tuesday about how he doesn’t use excuses or worry about who’s in or out — he just coaches the 11 players available on the field. But it’s obvious the doctors’ notes are piling up.
Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson, who ran for nine straight 100-yard games at the end of 2005, had just 26 yards in 15 carries Sunday. And the Chiefs’ once-vaunted offense is now 26th in the NFL.
“We’re all frustrated because of the way we played last week,” Edwards said. “Prior to that, we played halfway decent. We didn’t play well, and I can’t worry about why because I’ve got to worry about San Diego. You never know why.
“We’ve got to play better, and I anticipate we’ll play better. We have no choice. It’s a division game. We know it.”
Ah, the Chargers. They’re not exactly a get-well-soon matchup for the offense since they have the No. 1 defense in the NFL. But Edwards put on a happy face Tuesday and compared last weekend’s events to a playoff game he had in New York when his Jets beat the Colts 41-0.
Sometimes, he said, it’s just one team’s day.
“They hit us, and we didn’t react,” Edwards said.
“At halftime, it’s 31-0, and what do you tell your football team? What does the chalkboard say? You don’t need to worry about the play. You know what you need to do? You’d better play the second half or you might get hurt. To this football team’s credit, they played the second half.”
Long before the team got on a flight back to Kansas City, the airwaves were crackling with criticism. Edwards came to town in January to take the Chiefs to the playoffs and beyond with a defense-first mentality. In the months that have followed, he’s been blasted for a conservative offense and predictable play-calling.
He bristled Tuesday at the notion that his team was predictable. The Chiefs threw the ball 39 times, more than twice as much as they ran it. And in this 2-3 start, nothing has gone to script.
“It’s no different than when I went to New York,” Edwards said. “I was going to do it a certain way, and I didn’t bat an eye up there and I’m not going to bat an eye here, believe me. They hired me to come here and really be who I am. That’s what I’m gonna do, and there’s going to be some ups and downs and you know it.
“The thing you can’t do is you can’t get distracted by all of the sudden everyone telling you how to run your program. Because there’s only 32 head coaches last time I checked, and my name’s on the door and I’ve got to make sure that I do it the way I want to do it, because, if not, then it becomes coach of the week. I’m going to do it my way. I get that from my mom. I’m stubborn.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/15783821.htm
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