Teicher: Flowers working to have breakout season

[LaChapelle]

Flowers working to have a breakout season
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star


Brandon Flowers intercepted five passes last season, but he admitted he should have had twice that many.

It hasn’t escaped the notice of talented Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers that one of the league’s top players at his position, Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets, made a huge leap in 2009.

“It was his third year and he just exploded on the scene last year, separated himself from the pack,” Flowers said. “He wasn’t content to be just an NFL starter.”

Flowers intends to make a similar jump in 2010, his third NFL season. If so, he could become the first Chiefs cornerback to reach the Pro Bowl since James Hasty in 1999.

His work toward that end started in earnest this week when the Chiefs convened for the first time this year for their offseason conditioning program.

“People say the more years you play in the league, the slower you get,” Flowers said. “But I feel you can always train harder, get your endurance up even more. I haven’t been eating as well as I should these past few years. This year, I plan on eating all the way right the whole season. That will help prevent injuries. All that fried food, fried chicken, all that soul food, you’ve got to throw that out the window. Eat a lot of baked foods. Stay on a chicken and fish diet.

“Then, get smart in the film room. Seventy-five percent of the game is just knowing where your teammates are.”

Flowers was arguably the Chiefs’ best defensive player last season. He started 15 games, missing only the season opener because of injury. Flowers led the Chiefs in interceptions with five.

“When a play comes to me this year, I’ve got to make it,” he said. “I dropped a lot of interceptions last year. If I just make those plays, I could have come away with nine or 10 interceptions last year. Then people would be looking at me as a whole different ballplayer. Even if plays don’t come my way, just dominate my side of the field. Be more aggressive with the receiver. Do something positive for the team on every play.

“I left some plays on the field. I could have had a lot more interceptions to give the ball back to the offense so they could score some points. You can always get better. I think I had a solid season, but I’m ready to turn it up for this season.

“I just can’t wait to get out there and show people what I can do when I’m healthy.”

Flowers was never quite right physically last season after injuring a shoulder while scoring a touchdown in a preseason game. He missed that first regular-season game, and though he returned the next week, the injury bothered him all season and occasionally prevented him from practicing.

He gained plenty of respect from his coaches and teammates for his refusal to shut down his season, even late in the year when the Chiefs were hopelessly out of playoff contention.

“To be honest, I didn’t (ask out of the lineup) because all the guys that I went through training camp, all these offseason workouts with, they’d been with me through this whole time,” Flowers said. “I think it would have been selfish for me to just sit down and just say you guys can finish the last two games just because I want to rest my shoulder and make sure I’m all right. I just wanted to go out there, put my blood, sweat and tears into it with my brothers that I grind it out with during the offseason.”

Chiefs coach Todd Haley said: “Brandon showed some things that really left me encouraged about what’s ahead for him. He’s a very competitive guy that played hurt most of the year and still was able to play at a pretty high level.

“Brandon has set the bar high. He’s not going to be content to just be another guy. He wants to stand out and be a special player and be on a team that wins a lot of games.”

Flowers was drafted by former coach Herm Edwards and former general manager Carl Peterson, but he bought in quickly to the methods of their successors, Haley and Scott Pioli. Flowers isn’t a natural leader, but his biggest task off the field is to persuade more of his teammates to embrace the new ways.

“You’ve got to accept change,” Flowers said. “I think I accepted change so well because in high school a whole new coaching staff came in. In college, I had a certain position coach and another one came in. I’ve always had change.

“I think I lead by example more than being vocal. I’m a laid-back guy, but once I get on the field, I pride myself on not trying to make mistakes and trying to get the guys riled up to go out on the field and have fun.”



To reach Adam Teicher, call 816-234-4875 or send e-mail to ateicher@kcstar.com

Posted on Sat, Apr. 03, 2010 01:51 AM

[ForeverChiefs58]

Originally Posted by milkman

At the end of the day, this team would very likely be much further along in the building process if Hunt had simply promoted Bill Kuharich and Kuharich had in turn hired Jim Swartz or Leslie Frazier to take over the as HC.

The problem with that, however, is that Kuharich would most likely have retained Herman ****ing Edwards, and no one wants that.

This is the same Bill Kuharich that as General Manager of the New Orlean Saints, when they sucked and couldn't win, thought it would be smart to trade every draft in the '99 draft, plus 1st and 3rd the following year, just to be able to draft Ricky Williams? Sure people can blame it on Ditka, but Bill K was the GM, and he was fired the following year for allowing it to happen under his watch.
That decision should have cost him from ever working again, but of course KC swooped in to get him. And during his stay with KC, the team managed their worst record in team history. Yeah, he is a real gem!

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by notorious

When a player makes statements like this, their next year ends up being very average.




and play ball. Let your play on the field do the talking.

I think he recognizes that. Most players don't get that specific, though. He really seems to have a plan for improvement and he seems genuinely dedicated to it. I'd be really surprised if it didn't translate to the field.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by ForeverChiefs58

This is the same Bill Kuharich that as General Manager of the New Orlean Saints, when they sucked and couldn't win, thought it would be smart to trade every draft in the '99 draft, plus 1st and 3rd the following year, just to be able to draft Ricky Williams? Sure people can blame it on Ditka, but Bill K was the GM, and he was fired the following year for allowing it to happen under his watch.
That decision should have cost him from ever working again, but of course KC swooped in to get him. And during his stay with KC, the team managed their worst record in team history. Yeah, he is a real gem!

Bill Kuharich had the same say in personnel decisions in New Orleans that Geoge Kokinis(sp) had in Cleveland last year with Mangini, and the Donkey's GM (whose name escapes me) has in Denver, which is to say that all decisions were in actuality made by the HC.

Kuharich was GM in name only.

As for KC, that was still all Carl and the HC.

But that's neither here nor there.

My post was more a statement of the piss poor job that I believe Pioli has done to this point than an endorsement of Kuharich.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

At the end of the day, this team would very likely be much further along in the building process if Hunt had simply promoted Bill Kuharich and Kuharich had in turn hired Jim Swartz or Leslie Frazier to take over the as HC.

The problem with that, however, is that Kuharich would most likely have retained Herman ****ing Edwards, and no one wants that.

Haley is an interesting guy to watch. I'm not sold either way on him, but the one thing I do admire is that he does seem to have matured quite a bit along the way. I think it showed a lot of balls to take away his own OC responsibility and hire a strong-minded OC. I don't see him acting like an asshole over weight issues, etc... this offseason. And I really hope Crennel/Weis show him a thing or two about on-field evaluations, because Haley definitely sucked it up last year.

Just as I've said about Pioli, I think this year is really going to tell us a lot about what we have in Haley. Frankly, I'm more confident in Haley getting it right than I am in Pioli. At least Haley isn't married to a specific philosophy.