Teicher: Waiting game for Croyle

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Waiting game for Croyle

Chiefs rookie quarterback hasn’t been able to show much because of injury.

By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

RIVER FALLS, Wis. - Rookie quarterback Brodie Croyle wandered into the training-camp dining hall at lunch Monday with a massive ice pack strapped to his aching right shoulder.

It was another sign that Croyle, who once again didn’t practice Monday, won’t be available for the Chiefs when they play their second preseason game Thursday night against the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.

“It’s been a long two weeks,” said Croyle, who injured his shoulder in an early training-camp practice. “It’s been a really long two weeks.”

Not that it’s any consolation for Croyle, but the Chiefs feel much the same way. After drafting him in the third round, the Chiefs believed at long last they had a developmental quarterback with some real potential.

When he watches Croyle play, coach Herm Edwards is reminded of Chad Pennington, his quarterback with the New York Jets. Edwards and the Jets went to the playoffs in two of the three seasons they were quarterbacked by Pennington.

“I see the similarities,” Edwards said. “Croyle is a smart guy and probably has a stronger arm. He’s got some moxie. That’s something you’ve got to have to play quarterback. He has a good presence in the huddle.”

Croyle’s absence might not sting so much if they didn’t have concerns about their other backups to Trent Green. Damon Huard didn’t play in the first preseason game because of a sore foot, but he returned to practice Monday and could play at New York.

This preseason is starting to look like last year’s for the Chiefs. The majority of preseason passes were thrown by Jonathan Quinn and James Kilian, two quarterbacks the Chiefs knew weren’t going to make the team. Green, Huard and Todd Collins spent much of the preseason injured.

“With Damon not receiving the (snaps) and Brodie not receiving the (snaps),” offensive coordinator Mike Solari said, “that’s a concern.”

It’s not too late for Croyle to make his move. He said the Chiefs have told him he will be back to practice next week, meaning he would play in the third preseason game a week from Saturday against the Rams at Arrowhead Stadium.

“I was feeling really good about where I was before I got hurt,” Croyle said. “I was getting comfortable in the offense. The reads and the concepts were starting to make sense. I was throwing the ball well. I’ve learned a little bit by sitting back and watching it from a different perspective. It’s obviously not as good as the hands-on, in-the-fire kind of experience.

“Obviously, coming into camp, the starting job was spoken for. You always want to compete for something. I don’t know if this is true or not, but you always get to feeling you might be losing ground to the next guy.”

In this case, that’s not true. Rookie Casey Printers was awful in Houston, and Huard wasn’t particularly sharp in training camp before his injury.

The thing bothering the Chiefs: How much better off would Croyle be if he were healthy and hadn’t missed so much time?

“He’s not able to grow,” Solari said. “That’s the great thing about training camp. It gives rookies and young players a chance to learn the offense. The best way to learn is to get in there and run the plays.

“With Brodie, that’s kind of delayed his progression. He’s in the meetings and he’s learning things, but it’s not as good as getting behind that center and doing it for yourself.”

Edwards also wants to see Croyle back in action.

“You want the guy to get his snaps,” Edwards said. “If he can’t play this week, hopefully he can the next week. That’s going to be critical to play in that third preseason game. So hopefully if he gets well, he’ll have that game and the next one. He’s missed a lot of stuff, especially for a rookie. We’ll see how he plays when he finally gets a chance to play.

“You wish he was well this last game and in the game we’re about to play. You hate to put all that pressure on Casey. He’s just a young guy.”

Croyle has an injury-filled history, which is perhaps the biggest reason he wasn’t drafted higher. He played through rib and shoulder troubles as a sophomore at Alabama and missed all but three games as a junior because of a knee injury.

“This is nothing like any of that,” Croyle said. “If I had to play a couple of days later, I could have. I can throw now. It’s just that they don’t want me to do anything until the pain is all gone. I just landed the wrong way on my shoulder. It wouldn’t have been a problem at all if I had shoulder pads on. It was just one of those freak things.

“It was no fun. It’s never any fun when you have a chance to play and you don’t. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’ve just got to sit back and let this thing heal, and when it’s ready, we’ll go.”