McCluster, Hali, O'Callaghan, Sheffield Limited In Practice 9/10

[TRR]

Arrowhead Report: Friday, Sept. 10th

By Josh Looney

Posted 39 minutes ago

Haley moves practices back to mirror MNF schedule

Prior to Friday practice, Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said that his team would try to practice under the lights of Arrowhead "at all costs." He wasn't kidding.

Haley adjusted the Chiefs practice schedule on Friday to mirror the slate for Monday Night Football as closely as possible. With Kansas City playing in the nightcap of Monday’s MNF double-header, the game will be one of the latest starting (if not the latest) kickoffs in franchise history. Since warm-ups aren’t slated to begin until approximately the eight o’clock hour, Haley is keeping his squad from practicing until that time over the next two days.

“Just as part of our efforts to get acclimated to our stadium, some of the timing of the game,” Haley explained of his decision to move practice back. “We’re going to do that again tomorrow. With just the difference in start times for our team, I think it’s great enough that it may just help us in some way, shape or form to get on that Monday schedule.”

Problem was, the weather didn't cooperate on Friday night. Chiefs players loaded into their cars, drove from the Chiefs Training Facility to Arrowhead, got spatted up and dressed...only to turn around. Heavy rains and lighting in the vacinity forced Haley to move Friday night's Arrowhead practice back to the Chiefs indoor facility. Either way, the Chiefs still got in their prep work for San Diego, but the weather was definitley an inconvinece in the planning.

On the field, much was the same for the Chiefs with the exception of WR Dexter*McCluster?. McCluster was not in attendance during the portion of practice open to the media because of an illness. Like Thursday's practice, T Ryan*O'Callaghan? was working out on the bikes as he nurses a groin injury and OLB Cameron*Sheffield? did not participate. OLB Tamba*Hali? was also added to the injury report as a limited practice participant because of a foot injury.

All The Same for Richardson

Barry*Richardson? has one career start to his name. That starting nod came last season vs. Cleveland (12/20/09) when right tackle Ryan O’Callaghan was out with a knee injury. With O’Callaghan nicked up over the past two weeks, Richardson is once again preparing for a possible starting role. The way Richardson has been preparing, however, remains unchanged.

“It’s no different,” Richardson said of his preparation this week.

“Even last year, when I was a back-up, you never know when something can happen in the middle of a game and you have to get in there. It’s really just about knowing my stuff and just getting in there. It’s not about whose starting, or not starting. It’s about knowing what to do when you’re name’s called.”

We’ll see if Richardson’s name is called on Monday night. He’s had a heck of a preseason, from showing off-season progression to overcoming an injury setback. He may get his chance to write another chapter of his 2010 journey on MNF…stay tuned.

Carthon a Big Factor in Jones/Charles Carries

Chiefs assistant head coach Maurice Carthon knows the Chiefs backfield as well as anyone. A former NFL runner himself, Carthon coaches the Chiefs running backs on a daily basis and is also the man who helped to make training camp’s Porta-John drill famous. Carthon is also one of the most under-the-radar coaches on the Chiefs roster, if such a title were to exist.

With the additions of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel this off-season, Kansas City added two high-profile assistant coaches that are often discussed by fans and the media. As a result, Carthon’s importance to the success of the Chiefs often goes overlooked. It shouldn’t.

Carthon is a coach who, from the beginning of the Haley era, has played a big part in the Chiefs *gameday plans (hence the assistant head coach title he carries). This season, Carthon’s role will be no different. On Monday night, Carthon will be charged with one of the most important duties in the fans eye; determining when Jamaal*Charles? and Thomas*Jones? are/aren’t in the game.

“He’s got a very good feel of how guys are operating, responding, performing and again it’s not just runs, it’s protections, it’s formations, alignments, motions, routes, any of those things,” Haley said of Carthon. “There are a lot of different factors that go into how a guy’s performing and executing a game plan and some of it is more obvious than others but Mo has a great feel for that and also a great feel for where they are on the worn-out chart. He knows if they’ve just done two or three things that have taken a toll, whether it’s be hit, hit somebody else, run far, run a far route a long way downfield, whatever it is it’s Mo that I rely on.”

Haley ultimately carries the final say in all personnel decisions, but its Carthon’s advice that will weigh heavily into the decision regarding Kansas City’s running backs