RIVER FALLS WRAP: Day 12
Aug 08, 2006, 4:20:48 PM
Camping with the Chiefs - Day 12 - Windows Media | Real Video
by Josh Looney
Breakdown: Players paced their way to the practice fields on Tuesday morning for a full-padded practice at 9:00 AM. The AM session closed with two unmistakable conclusions, the defensive unit controlled the practice tempo and Chiefs head coach is trying to instill his philosophy on how he wants to close out games and what he expects from both sides of the ball.
Anyone who attended the AM practice could clearly see that the defense had the better morning. Defensive players were flying around, quickly filling holes at the line of scrimmage and made a habit of ball-hawking quarterbacks and receivers. The defensive line constantly parked itself on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage, forcing quarterbacks to tuck balls on three and five step drops. Having a “defensive-minded” head coach, one would assume that Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards would come away from practice with a huge smile on his face. Not today, throw those assumptions out the window.
“The defense set the tempo and the offense never responded,” Edwards commented. “It’s not that I didn’t like it; I’m disappointed, that’s all. I got after the defense one day, too, because the offense was knocking them around. So, I think the offensive players figured I’m a defensive coach and I’m going after the defense. Well, today, I’m mad at the offense and the offense has got to learn we’ve got to knock guys off the ball in the fourth quarter and win the game. Period.”
“You don’t just keep letting the one team keep dominating the practice because then you don’t get better as a team,” Edwards continued. “A little bit of that took place today and that’s not good enough. So, now it becomes a one-sided practice and I don’t like one-sided practices, even though I’m a defensive coach. I’m happy when we compete and get better. One side of the ball didn’t get better today but they allowed that to happen because of their mentality. You can’t let that happen because that’s going to happen in the game.”
Although the offense will operate in a similar fashion compared to previous seasons, Edwards has made it clear he intends on playing smash-mouth football while owning a lead late in games. During the club’s four-minute drill, a team drill that simulates a variety of situations within the last four minutes of a half or game, Edwards hoped to see better execution from his offense.
“You may not make five yards on the first run; you might only make three,” Edwards continued, referencing a scenario this morning where the offense had to pick up one first down in order to run out the clock. “You’ve got to keep hammering and you’ve got to lose that mentality where all of a sudden a pass will bail us out. It didn’t bail us out today on third-and-eight. The offense stopped the clock and we had to punt. We don’t want to do that.”
Edwards has continued to rest his veteran players during two-a-day sessions. Pro Bowl veterans QB Trent Green, TE Tony Gonzalez and CB Ty Law all received a break during the morning session. Veterans on a one-a-day practice routine have generally rested during the full-padded sessions on days scheduled for two practices.
Unscripted: Attention Mike Solari and Gunther Cunningham, throw your practice scripts in the trash, we’re improvising today. Edwards might as well have yelled something similar during Tuesday morning’s team period. Edwards went off script and starting yelling out different down and distance scenarios. His coordinators were tested by making their calls on the fly, marking another unique technique Edwards uses to test both his players and staff during training camp.
The unscripted team period proved to be the most intense 15 minutes of practice time on Tuesday. Both coordinators were running in different personnel packages at a rapid pace as Edwards shouted out the down and distance. Even the chain gang struggled to keep up with Edwards’ fast pace. At one point, the down marker showed first-and-eight when Edwards wanted a third-and-eight situation. Edwards hollered, in a joking manner, at the staff member running the chains to stop helping the offense cheat.
“I Used To Be A Scout!”: After his playing days, but before his coaching days, Herm Edwards used to be a scout at the professional level. After recently-acquired DT Shane Burton knocked down a QB Damon Huard pass attempt during the team pass segment, Edwards could be heard shouting, “I used to be a scout,” to members of the Chiefs personnel department standing on the sidelines. One could only assume that Edwards must have told them Burton was known for batting down passes during his time under Edwards with the N.Y. Jets.
Just yesterday Edwards was quoted as saying the following about Burton to media members after practice, “The last year I was with him he had about six batted balls. It was kind of amazing. He does a great job getting his hands up and knocking balls down.”
Inside the NFL: The Kansas City Chiefs will be featured on NFL Network’s returning series Inside Training Camp tonight at 7:00 PM CST. The program is visiting 12 NFL training camps in 24 days. The show will feature Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards wearing a wireless microphone, an interview with team President Carl Peterson and is hosted by former University of Iowa QB Paul Burmeister with analyst Brian Baldinger, who spent 12 seasons (’82-93) as an NFL guard.
Burmeister and Baldinger call the action from the Chiefs camp at UW-River Falls. The show captures sights and sounds of team drills and also features exclusive interviews with Vice President of Player Personnel Bill Kuharich, LB Derrick Johnson and QB Trent Green. ITC featured reports on the latest news form Chiefs camp including injury updates and position battles.
NFL Network visits (in chronological order) the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans in addition to the Chiefs training camp.
Another Chief in the Hall: How many other organizations can claim that they had two members of their organization inducted into the Hall of Fame within the same week? The Chiefs can. Former QB Warren Moon (’99-00) was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame last weekend and KC Wolf will be induced into the Mascot Hall of Fame this weekend.
The Famous Chicken, the Philly Phanatic (MLB - Phillies) and the Phoenix Gorilla (NBA - Suns) will welcome Chiefs mascot KC Wolf as the first NFL mascot to be enshrined into the Mascot Hall of Fame. YoUDee (University of Delaware), Aubie (Auburn University), Bucky Badger (University of Wisconsin), Clutch the Bear (Houston Rockets) and Jazz Bear (Utah Jazz) will join KC Wolf in the 2006 induction ceremony hosted by CapitalOne on August 15th in Philadelphia.
For more information on the Mascot Hall of Fame and its members check out
www.mascothalloffame.com.
Plays of the Day: (Tuesday, August 8, AM practice)
Offense: Although the Chiefs defense got the best of the “O” on Tuesday, QB Casey Printers hooked up with WR Jeris McIntyre on an 80-yard touchdown connection, the longest of camp thus far. Printers was able to sell a play fake causing S Bernard Pollard and CB Alphonso Hodge to bite on the run, leaving McIntyre wide open on a streak down the right sideline.
Defense: The Red and Gold defense dominated Tuesday’s morning session and the play of the day goes to the entire defensive line. Whether it was the first or second unit, each front-four combination was able to get into the backfield and cause quarterbacks to pull the ball down. Not only did the line collapse the pocket well, but they also were able to contain fleet-footed QB Casey Printers as he scrambled.
Look Who’s Talking: “When the lights come on and you smell the popcorn and you see the people in the stands you play football.“
— Herm Edwards on Saturday night’s preseason opener at Houston.
Injury Report: DE Tamba Hali sat out Tuesday practice with sprained ribs. Edwards doesn’t expect Hali to play in the club’s first exhibition game at Houston.
*River Falls Weather:
Temperature: 82 degrees
Heat Index: 83 degrees
*Kansas City Weather:
Temperature: 87 degrees
Heat Index: 93 degrees
*Temperatures are recorded after each morning practice.
A Look Ahead: Wednesday’s practice schedule features a special teams practice at 10:00 AM and a full-padded afternoon practice session at 3:45 PM.
