[BigRedChief]

Saturday, July 26, 2008: Afternoon Practice
Editor's Note: Chiefs fans who may be trying to access the training camp photo gallery may have difficulty doing so due to the power outage caused by the storm yesterday. We are working to fix any inconveniences. We appreciate your patience as we try to solve this problem.

It was a beautiful evening practice. The sky was mostly clear with an 11 mile per hour breeze that was coming out of the northwest. The humidity was 35 percent with a temperature of 83 degrees. This weather was reflected in the moods of fans who were cheerful and energetic during practice. There were 236 fans in attendance. Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was also in attendance for his first practice with the team.

Offense/Defense
Before practice officially began, veteran cornerback Patrick Surtain was under the training tent spending time on the stationary bike. Surtain later put his pads on and joined his team, contributing immensely to drills.
The big news this afternoon was the arrival of first-round draft pick, defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. At the start of practice, following stretches, Dorsey stood on the sidelines having casual conversation with Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie. While the two spoke, a trainer taped Dorsey’s right calf below a knee brace that was already in place.
While special teams worked, Dorsey chatted with tackle Alfonso Boone, end Tamba Hali and tackle Tank Tyler.

Later, tackle Ron Edwards joined the group. “Wherever you go, man, there’re journalists,” Boone said to Dorsey as he walked across the field, followed by a crowd of reporters. Eventually, a talk of college competition sprouted among the men, and Dorsey commented: “I’m a champion.” After his quip, the others just chuckled as they delivered some innocent shoves to the No. 5 overall draft pick.

The defensive line worked on the sleds as they always do at the start of practice. With the arrival of Dorsey, however, 12 videographers and print photographers swarmed the sleds today. Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie shouted at rookie defensive end Johnny Dingle, “Dingle! Hit the damn boards!” After hitting the drills for several reps, the defensive linemen moved to the agility ropes. On his second set, defensive tackle Ron Edwards lost his footing, tripped and fell on the last square, taking the set of ropes with him. After laughing a bit and helping their teammate up, the men moved to the single sled to work on busting the blocker. Repeatedly Krumrie shouted, “Tattoo his (butt) and throw him!”

Both the linebackers and defensive linemen worked with dummies. They were maneuvering between sets of three and five dummies to perfect their footwork and get around blockers. Both Krumrie and Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Gunther Cunningham could be heard yelling, “Keep your head up!”

Working with the offensive line, the defensive line practiced getting by the block to rush the mock quarterback. Defensive end Turk McBride juked out offensive tackle Damion McIntosh. His teammates ooh’d and ahh’d for the impressive show. To settle the team down, Krumrie wanted a stronger finish from McBride and a better performance from McIntosh: “It’s not OK to get dropped. And ‘Close enough’ is not OK. Get there!”

During standard drills as well as 11-on-11 and 7-on-7, Dorsey practiced with the first string repeatedly. Also seeing time with the first string were rookies Brandon Flowers, cornerback; Brandon Carr, cornerback; and DaJuan Morgan, safety. Seeing second string time were defensive end Brian Johnston, safety Morgan, and cornerback Maurice Leggett. Also during the 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills, Dorsey split two blockers (Branden Albert and Will Svitek) and pressured the quarterback, drawing praise from Krumrie. Linebacker Donnie Edwards made a great play, stripping the ball from an offensive played and recovering the fumble.

Also, as a result of pressure on quarterback Brodie Croyle, rookie cornerback Brandon Carr almost picked off a pass of several yards. Coaches on the sidelines shouted, “Good coverage! Good coverage!”

Special Teams
The special teams unit worked on punt coverage immediately following warm-ups. Linebackers Thomas Pat, Derrick Johnson and Demorrio Williams along withsafety Jon McGraw came out with the first rush unit. Going half speed they worked up field for 15 yards from the 25-yard line on filling lanes.

The lanes were marked with short blue cones. Kicker Nick Novak was asked to simulate punts while the drill went on. Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer gave fullback Oliver Hoyte some guidance during the drill. “Oliver just stay a little lower. That was good,” he said. Defensive end Brian Johnston also received some Priefer-special advice. “Pull him close to you and he can’t get away,” exclaimed Priefer. During the drill Priefer was animated and told the players: “We’re in shoulder pads and helmets, stun his (butt).”

The unit also worked on its trail technique. The purpose of the one-on-one drill is to disrupt the route of the punt returner. Defenders in essence shadowed their returner’s every move. The drill was ran from the 25-yard lines for runs of 10 yards. “We will do this a lot men, you just have to understand the concept,” shared Priefer.

Kickers Nick Novak and Connor Barth got plenty of reps in at practice. They worked on their accuracy and technique while making attempts at field goals. Punter Justin Colquitt took on another role as the team’s holder while taking snaps from long snapper Jean-Philippe Darche. While positions were working on individual drills and skills, Novak and Barth warmed up attempting field goals from the 28, 33 and 37-yard lines. Novak made all of his with ease. Connor made all but one attempt. He missed his first kick—which was from the 28-yard line—from the left hash; it went wide to the right of the right field goal post.

Post the warm-up kicks, the defense and the offense gathered on the first field to replicate field goal attempts. After kickers Novak and Barth both missed their first attempts from the 28-yard line at the left hash, Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer told them they were starting the drill over. Novak and Barth kicked two from the 28 and 37-yard lines and one each from the 30, 32 and 33-yard lines. Novak hit all of his kicks. Barth missed one kick from the 32-yard line on the left hash. It went low and right of the up rights.

Kickers Connor Barth and Nick Novak, along with Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer, headed to the third field to take more kicks at a narrowed field goal post. They kicked from the 22, 27 and 32-yard lines from the left hash for a warm-up. They then took attempts while Priefer timed how long it took the football to go through the posts from the time it was kicked. Priefer’s son logged the times in a binder as Priefer told them to him. Both Barth and Novak had a couple of misses. Barth took what he thought was his last attempt from the 22-yard line until Priefer told him to take another one. Barth looked back at Priefer as if he wasn’t sure if he was serious.

Extra, Extra...
Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, first-round pick from Louisiana State University, walked out of the Hunt Arena with defensive end Johnny Dingle. He seemed relaxed and was seen laughing with the staff. Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie met Dorsey on the edge of the field and walked him to the rest of the guys waiting on the practice field. Dorsey didn’t waste any time chit-chatting before practice began. Executive Vice President Denny Thum said of Dorsey’s signing, “We had two picks in the first-round. A person of his ability is amazing. It’s a good thing to get him started and have him with the team right away. He’s not going to a miss a thing.”

Chairman of the Board Clark Hunt, General Manage Carl Peterson and Thum all turned up at this afternoon’s practice. Hunt spent time observing the offense and defense.

Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey faced media after practice. He said the first day of camp went well; it was fun. He says he knows he’s got a long way to go. When asked if he preferred training camp to working out alone, he said “training camp is many times better than doing it alone. Working with your teammates is always better.” Dorsey also addressed working with guard Brian Waters, and said Waters is good, and if he had to choose whom he wanted to go up against, it would be Waters. Dorsey is aware that working against an athlete as elite Waters is very beneficial to his career. “(River Falls) is a great atmosphere, and the weather is great,” Dorsey said. When asked about whether wide receiver Dwayne Bowe would get the opportunity to stick Dorsey to the poles on the field or not, Dorsey laughed and said, “He won’t get me. I’ll run. Sure, he’ll catch me, but I’ll fight…”

Cornerback Maurice Leggett was was spotted limping off the field into Hunt Arena shortly before practice endedwith a personal trainer at his side. It looked like he was having a little trouble putting pressure on his right ankle. It didn’t appear to be a serious injury.

Fans
Adam Endel and son Austin made the journey over to River Falls for the Chiefs training camp. The Endels traveled from Nevada. Adam grew up in Missouri and has been a Chiefs fan his whole life. They came to watch their second Chiefs summer training camp practice in the last five years. Between the morning and afternoon practices, the duo made a trip to the Mall of America. They will be watching practices for a few more days while visiting Adam’s brother in Rochester, Minn. They are very interested to see how the young team will do this year.

Residence of River Falls Bill Hischke was in attendance for the evening practice. Hischke has been coming to the Chiefs practices since 1995. He admits that he likes to come and have fun. He was wearing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey and was yelling that he couldn’t find former Chiefs Defensive End Jared Allen out on the field.

The mother-daughter team of Ruth and Carissa Bach from Eau Claire, Wis., was out in the sun having fun today at Chiefs camp. Their dog Cheyenne accompanied them to the practice fields. It is the second year in a row that the three of them have made the hour journey west to River Falls. They said they like to come and watch the players run around all over the place.

Dan Dufrene and son Jacob of River Falls said the weather was too nice to stay inside so they made the short trip over to the practice fields. They have been to every camp for the last four years. Dan had to teach Jacob that the players wearing the red and the white practice jerseys were all on the same team. Dan said his son has a little more to learn about football.

Steve, Cole and Carrie Haefner of Ankeny, Iowa participated in their fifth training camp. They were psyched to see Tony Gonzalez, Glenn Dorsey and the offensive line.

Les and Chris Mason drove from Central Kansas to enjoy their first training camp experience for the weekend. They were looking forward to seeing Gunther Cunningham and hear him yell at the defense. “This is a very nice practice facility,” they said while commenting on the city.
A group of guys, Bob Gallery, Crystal, Minn.; Larry Marquardt, Plymouth, Minn.;

Dennis Averbeck, Minnetonka, Minn.; Joshua Steele, Hudson, Wis.; came out for their first Chiefs training camp. They had a good time, but wouldn’t have minded seeing a little more hitting.

Owen and Judy Gahagan of Parkville, Mo., participated in their 15th training camp. They’re here through Tuesday and are proud to be season ticket holders. They’re excited to see the first-round picks and follow the draft choices. They were very thrilled about Defensive Tackle Glenn Dorsey signing with the team.

Pat and David Solfest, of Eau Claire Wis., were two of many fans happy to see that Defensive Tackle Glenn Dorsey has joined the team. “For a school this size and community this size, it’s great,” Pat said enthusiastically about the Ramer Field Sports Complex facility.
After an eventful day at the punt, pass, and kick competition father John and son Ryan Cotter sat at the top of the bleachers to witnesses this evening’s live contact practice. The Cotters caught both practices today and will be departing tomorrow morning, wrapping up there fourth season at camp. As practice went on the Cotters watched the progressive kick competition between Barth Connor and Nick Novak. Connor and Novak split the uprights as young fans tried to catch the sailing field goals on the back pathway.

UWRF alumnus Barry Eggerts caught this evening’s practice, which is just across the street from his apartment behind Dick’s Market. Barry, a long-time Green Bay Packer fan, has never made it out to St. Norbert’s College in Green Bay for the Packers’ camp, but does enjoy the up close contact that can be viewed from the south fence here in RF.

The Chiefs fan line is strong in the Mersman-Ostrowski family as grandfather Bob, grandmother Jan, father Kevin, Mother Amanda, and little ones Andrew and Allie. Andrew was able to get six autographs this morning on a pennant and four on a mini-helmet. One of the autographs included Andrew’s favorite player, Larry Johnson.

Leaning on the south gate, family season ticket holder of 29 years Ken Betterton rode his Harley to River Falls to witness the practice this afternoon. Betterton has confidences in his team, commenting on how he thought it was Brodie Croyle’s breakout season and that he was due. He also mentioned how it was a young offensive line, but that Branden Albert should help out.