Training Camp Preview - Offense
Jul 26, 2006, 8:28:25 AM by Bob Gretz
A 36-year old man with a wife and three children should not have to live in a tiny dormitory room, with the nearest bathroom being down the hall and the snores of his teammates emanating from behind the doors of the rooms on either side of him.
Still, Trent Green has been looking forward to just that for the last few months. Oh, he could do without checking in to McMillan Hall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He could wait for the rest of his life for that. But it’s a small price to pay for another year in the NFL, another campaign with the Chiefs, another chance to play football.
“I can’t wait,” Green said. “Sure there are things about training camp that you don’t like. It’s not fun being away from the family.
“But it’s the start of another season and that gets me excited every time.”
Training camp for Green and the rest of his teammates will be different from their trips north over the last half-decade. There’s a new sheriff in charge and head coach Herm Edwards has already shown in seven months on the job that while he may have played for Dick Vermeil, he’s not a clone.
“Oh, I think everybody knows that things have changed,” Green said. “I would imagine we are going to see even more examples of that in River Falls. At this point, it should not come as a surprise to anybody. There are no gray areas with Coach Edwards.”
This will also be a different training camp for the offense, as Al Saunders is gone and Mike Solari has stepped up from handling the offensive line and running game to take over the whole show. There are also new assistant coaches in John Matsko (offensive line) and John Embree (tight ends.)
With the exceptions of the unknown status of veteran running back Priest Holmes and his neck injury, the retirement of John Welbourn and the departure of fullback Tony Richardson, all the same familiar faces are back with the Chiefs offense. Will Shields and Willie Roaf are back for another season, as they each attempt to earn their 12th nominations to the Pro Bowl. Leading receivers Eddie Kennison and Tony Gonzalez are in place, ready to go for the 2006 season.
Most especially, Larry Johnson is back ready to pick up where he left off after the final nine games of last season, when he became the biggest offensive force in the NFL. As good as Johnson was over the final half of last season, Green wants to see his level of consistency go even higher.
“We need that consistency from him every game, for 16 games,” said Green. “I’m not saying he has to run for 100 yards every game. What he did at the end of last year was remarkable. To think that’s going to happen again, well, that’s hard to do when defenses are spending the entire off-season preparing to face him.
“We’ve just got to remain a balanced offense.”
Differences will be evident in the Chiefs offense this year, and Green is already prepared for that.
“There are always changes from year to year, but it’s always nice when you have so much of the base, not only in the players but the offensive scheme, in place and experienced at working together,” said Green. “We will have to go to camp and work on adjustments. It will be an adjustment with Coach Edwards and his views on offense, and it will be adjustment with Coach Solari and his views on the offense.
“Adjusting is easier than starting new.”
Through a lot of the off-season program, the Chiefs offense worked on game specific situations and they did plenty of skull sessions on game clock management.
“Coach Edwards and Coach (Dick) Curl (offensive assistant) spent a lot of time with the quarterbacks on what they want to do in certain situations,” said Green. “Things like what they want to do at the end of the first half, what they want to do when we have a lead in the fourth quarter, when we are trying to score points at the end of the half. We’ve gone through all these game management situations and how he wants to handle those situations.”
Green sees training camp and the four pre-season games as the opportunity for the offense to fill in the gaps, especially in depth, especially along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
“We need some of our young receivers to take a step forward and claim a spot on this roster,” said Green. “Guys like Jeris McIntyre and Craphonso Thorpe. These guys have been in the offense. Now, they have to go out and show they can produce. If they can’t, then some of the other young guys on the roster are going to get an opportunity.
“On the offensive line, we’ve got to find the best group to back up our starters. There are a lot of bodies there, a lot of guys that have shown some ability to play. They’ve got to show they can take things to the next level as well.”
As the Chiefs head to River Falls, the defense no longer feels like it’s just going along for the ride. That’s might be the biggest change around the team and one that Green welcomes.
“Coach Edwards has brought a different attitude in here and those guys are soaking it up,” said Green. “That’s great. There isn’t anybody on this offense that doesn’t welcome that sort of thing.
“We know that to reach our goals, we have to have all parts of our game contributing in big ways, that’s offense, defense and the kicking game.”
The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.