Teicher: Johnson, Toribio and Lewis sit out Chiefs practice with injuries

[Tribal Warfare]

Johnson, Toribio and Lewis sit out Chiefs practice with injuries
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs began their practice week Monday without four defensive starters, including their two Pro Bowl linebackers. They’re preparing to play against the Atlanta Falcons, who were seventh in the NFL in scoring last season, that could present a problem.

The situation could improve some by the time the Chiefs and Falcons open their seasons against one another on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. But even early in the week, things were far from ideal.

“You’d like to have all your guys all the time,” coach Romeo Crennel said. “But in this business you don’t have all of them all the time and so you have to depend on other guys to step up and do their part when they’re called on.”

Linebacker Derrick Johnson, nose tackle Anthony Toribio and free safety Kendrick Lewis didn’t go through team portions of practice. Johnson and Toribio have injured ankle, Lewis an injured shoulder.

Johnson, injured in the final preseason game against the Packers, appeared the most likely of the group to be ready for Sunday’s game.

“As long as I make progress every day, that’s the plan,” Johnson said when asked whether he would play against the Falcons. “I am a fast healer. Let’s hope that this week I can be even faster.”

The Chiefs’ other Pro Bowl linebacker, Tamha Hali, will not play against Atlanta. He is serving his one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

Cornerback Brandon Flowers, who didn’t play in the preseason and hadn’t practiced for more than a month, was back to work Monday. But Flowers, who has what the Chiefs have called as bruised heel, said he didn’t know if he would play Sunday and suggested the decision might come down to day of the game.

“If I’m out there on Sunday, then that means I’m ready to go,” he said “We’ll know game day.”

For one day, at least, the Chiefs patched together a lineup that included backups in four spots. Cory Greenwood and Brandon Siler took turns at Johnson’s position. Rookie Dontari Poe is starting for Toribio and veteran Abe Elam for Lewis.

Andy Studebaker, Edgar Jones and Cameron Sheffield have been rotating in Hali’s spot.

“Particularly (in Hali’s spot), that’s what has to happen,” Crennel said. “We’ll have to rotate guys in there and we will during the course of the week and I expect all of them to step and to be able to produce. Now, are they going to produce the way Tamba is able to produce? Only time will tell that.”

All coaches have jitters the opening week of the season given the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Even before the injuries, suspension and resulting lineup changes, this would have been an anxious week for Crennel.

The Chiefs are one of the NFL’s youngest teams. They have five players who are 30 and they are the oldest. Heading into their ninth NFL seasons, guard Ryan Lilja and special teams player Terrance Copper have the most NFL experience.

“If you have a veteran team (with players) who have proven themselves and that you feel good about, I think you can be less anxious,” Crennel said. “I think everybody gets anxious when the season starts. But if you’ve got a veteran team and you’re solid all across the board, then I think you can be less anxious because you know what you have.

“(The Chiefs) have some young players who have to play and we all know that young players make mistakes. You don’t know how many mistakes they’re going to make or what a mistake might cost you during the course of the game. Some guys, when there are 70,000 or 80,000 in the stands and they know that it counts, they react differently. We’re going to have to see how all of that plays out.”

Adding to the mystery about how well the Chiefs will play on Sunday is their uneven preseason. The Chiefs went 1-3 with the starters playing well in the first and fourth games but not so in the middle two, when the defense was particularly disappointing.

Crennel said he takes comfort in the fact the Chiefs have gotten it done, even if not consistently.

“In the first preseason game, the way they executed in that game and then the last game, they showed they could execute at a good level,” he said. “So I think they gave us enough to feel good about going into the regular season.

“One of the things I wanted to do was to be able to say we could be solid and sound coming out of the last (preseason) game. I think from our play versus their first guys, we were solid and sound coming out of that game.”

Atlanta was also 1-3 in the exhibition season, losing to Baltimore, Cincinnati and Jacksonville while beating Miami. The Falcons made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, though they lost their playoff game each time.

“This is a good Atlanta team coming in,” Crennel said. “They have some skill on all sides of the ball, really. So we’re going to have to play our best to win.”

[Black Bob]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

No, you're just making a bad argument. It's meaningless though. My only point was that BlackBob wasn't getting owned on the tackles topic. This really isn't anything worth getting worked up about, so I'll just bow out of this.

Have a great night.

Thanks for keeping it real.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

Siler has enough stats over his career to say otherwise. BTW, the stats compared Siler's career stats to DJ's stats last season. What would it look like if we did DJ's whole career?

the stats compared the same number of snaps, not DJ's fault he plays as many snaps in a year as siler has played in his career

[The Franchise]

Who is that on the ground?

[Sofa King]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Who is that on the ground?

Tackling is his Achilles heel.

[Black Bob]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Who is that on the ground?

Wasn't it you who said something like "show me a linebacker who doesn't miss tackles?" Yes, it was you. If you really want to know the truth, Siler has one tackle that was more important and memorable than any of DJ's. It was a tackle that got them into the playoffs on a 4th and goal against Dallas. If you don't believe me, go ask their fans about it. Also, I could show you at least 100 DJ pics of the type you are showing me. I stuck it out and found gifs. You are a pussy who continues to have nothing.

the stats compared the same number of snaps, not DJ's fault he plays as many snaps in a year as siler has played in his career

This is just stupid. Why is Siler still in the league Jason? What would have ever convinced the Chiefs to sign the guy? Why hasn't anyone beat him out for a roster spot yet? How many years has he been in the league?

You can't use DJ's numbers from one year versus Siler's career numbers. It needs to be a career thing to be fair. The question is who tackles better. It's not about who is the better player. A guy that is a fundamentally sound player, will continue to tackle consistantly. That will show up in the missed tackle per attempt statistic. DJ has never been consistant. He's had two good seasons. Siler could never put up DJ's numbers but he is much more consistant. It's like I said earlier. It's why Siler plays special teams and DJ does not. It's why Berry plays special teams and Lewis does not.

[Brock]

Yep, Siler will be long remembered by somebody somewhere.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

If you don't believe me, go ask their fans about it. Also, I could show you at least 100 DJ pics of the type you are showing me. I stuck it out and found gifs. You are a pussy who continues to have nothing.

Trust me, as a San Diego Native who listens to their sports radio every morning, Siler has not been missed. Not last year, and not this year. Don't be silly.

Also, even if everyone were to concede that Siler is a better tackler, what difference does it make when he can't get into position and close the gap to make the tackle in the first place?

Siler is a slow, flat footed LB. Always has been.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

Wasn't it you who said something like "show me a linebacker who doesn't miss tackles?" Yes, it was you. If you really want to know the truth, Siler has one tackle that was more important and memorable than any of DJ's. It was a tackle that got them into the playoffs on a 4th and goal against Dallas. If you don't believe me, go ask their fans about it. Also, I could show you at least 100 DJ pics of the type you are showing me. I stuck it out and found gifs. You are a pussy who continues to have nothing.

Siler has one tackle that was more important and memorable than any of DJ's? Really?

You really are a ****ing reerun. Seriously.....you have brought NO evidence to backup your claims. Show me gifs of Siler making tackles. Shit....show me the almighty tackle that you just brought up. Until then.....your knowledge amounts to jackshit.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

This is just stupid. Why is Siler still in the league Jason? What would have ever convinced the Chiefs to sign the guy? Why hasn't anyone beat him out for a roster spot yet? How many years has he been in the league?

This is terrible logic.

Why hasn't Siler been able to beat out Belcher, an UDFA, a solid yet unspectacular player?

You're comparing Siler to 3rd and 4th string UDRFA's.....doesn't that say enough?

[Black Bob]

Why is it that so many people areound here are "kick him when they're down" or "sucker punch" types. I mean it's all in this thread. Just go back and read it.

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Trust me, as a San Diego Native who listens to their sports radio every morning, Siler has not been missed. Not last year, and not this year. Don't be silly.

Also, even if everyone were to concede that Siler is a better tackler, what difference does it make when he can't get into position and close the gap to make the tackle in the first place?

Siler is a slow, flat footed LB. Always has been.

I posted quotes form the Chargers forum about how he would be missed. There are a ton of them. I know he can't close the gap. That's not the argument. All I said is that Siler is a good back up. I said he's a better tackler than DJ but sucks in coverage and is not a playmaker.

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Siler has one tackle that was more important and memorable than any of DJ's? Really?

You really are a ****ing reerun. Seriously.....you have brought NO evidence to backup your claims. Show me gifs of Siler making tackles. Shit....show me the almighty tackle that you just brought up. Until then.....your knowledge amounts to jackshit.

In my short time on this board it has become obvious to me that you are the most useless poster here. I'm done with you. You don't know anything about football. All you do is follow other posters and jump on their coat tails. You are the pathetic of the pathetic. It would be nice if you would take my bet.

Originally Posted by Detoxing

This is terrible logic.

Why hasn't Siler been able to beat out Belcher, an UDFA, a solid yet unspectacular player?

You're comparing Siler to 3rd and 4th string UDRFA's.....doesn't that say enough?

Because Belcher is better than Siler.

Siler was a 7th round draft pick. He went 240th overall. He has played six season and hasn't been beaten out. Do you guys understand how the league works? The good players stick around for a while and the bad ones do not. It's why Jon McGraw had a ten year career. All it would take to beat him out would be one really fast linebacker who is a decent tackler who can play special teams right?

WRONG

Guys like Siler are hard to find.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

Why is it that so many people areound here are "kick him when they're down" or "sucker punch" types. I mean it's all in this thread. Just go back and read it.



I posted quotes form the Chargers forum about how he would be missed. There are a ton of them. I know he can't close the gap. That's not the argument. All I said is that Siler is a good back up. I said he's a better tackler than DJ but sucks in coverage and is not a playmaker.




In my short time on this board it has become obvious to me that you are the most useless poster here. I'm done with you. You don't know anything about football. All you do is follow other posters and jump on their coat tails. You are the pathetic of the pathetic. It would be nice if you would take my bet.



Because Belcher is better than Siler.

Siler was a 7th round draft pick. He went 240th overall. He has played six season and hasn't been beaten out. Do you guys understand how the league works? The good players stick around for a while and the bad ones do not. It's why Jon McGraw had a ten year career. All it would take to beat him out would be one really fast linebacker who is a decent tackler who can play special teams right?

WRONG

Guys like Siler are hard to find.

Dude....you do realize that you could find people on this board that missed Tyler Thigpen when he was gone.....right? Fan's opinions are worth exactly nothing as proof that a player is better at tackling.

I don't know anything about football? You've shown nothing in the short time that you've been here to show me that you know anything about anything. The only reason that anyone even knows who you are....is because you started a stupid attention whore thread introducing yourself. You've been proven time and time again to be a ****ing reerun.

[The Franchise]

Seriously.....I now despise the Coalition and I've never been there.

[The Franchise]

Oh....and show me where I jumped on other poster's coat tails.

And by show....I mean post proof you ****ing mouth breather.

[Black Bob]

I know you are upset but, I'm done with you man. I'm done with the Coalition to. Anyone who pays attention around here can see that you jump on coat tails. You are a weak weak man.... or kid?

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

I know you are upset but, I'm done with you man. I'm done with the Coalition to. Anyone who pays attention around here can see that you jump on coat tails. You are a weak weak man.... or kid?

Go start a thread about how McCluster is quicker than Charles.