[BigRedChief]

Monday, July 28, 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.
The weather made for a warm practice this evening. Partly cloudy skies were accompanied by a temperature of 86 degrees. A nine mile per hour wind out of the southeast provided a slight cool breeze. The humidity was at 53 percent. Seventy-three fans were in attendance.

Offense
The wide receivers and defensive backs worked on a one-on-one drill. Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe made a nice sliding catch after having his previous would-be catch broken up by rookie cornerback Brandon Flowers. Wide receiver Jabari Arthur beat Flowers on a route, but gained only 3 yards on the play, causing Head Coach Herm Edwards to praise Flowers by saying, “Hey if they catch 3-yard passes we’re doing good.”

During an offense only “hurry-up” drill all quarterbacks completed all of their passes. Quarterback Damon Huard worked with the second-string, and quarterback Tyler Thigpen worked with the third-string during that drill.When the defense cam together during an11-on-11 drill, Thigpen worked with the second-string to start the drill, but Huard and Thigpen would switch off working with the second and third-strings the rest of the drill, and during the 7-on-7 drill immediately after the 11-on-11.
After wide receiver Dwayne Bowe hauled in a short pass from quarterback Brodie Croyle Head Coach Herm Edwards praised Bowe by saying: “That’s a way to play big Bowe,” and then joked with him, “Boy I wish I was covering you, wanna get that blanket out?”

The practice ended with the offense beginning at its own 40-yard line, down by three with 0:52 on the clock, having three timeouts and needing to get to the opponents’ 20-yard line for a field goal attempt.
Quarterback Brodie Croyle completed passes to running back Larry Johnson and tight end Tony Gonzalez to march the offense down to the 32-yard line before getting sacked leaving the offense with a second and 17 situation from the opposing 39-yard line. But Croyle came back and completed passes to Gonzalez and wide receiver Devard Darling to get down to the 22-yard line. After a sack and an incomplete pass as a last ditch effort to score, the defense held the offense scoreless.

Defense
While their teammates stretched before practice this afternoon, offensive tackle Branden Albert and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe showed off their dance moves, breaking-it- down on the sidelines near the training tent. Defensive end Tamba Hali and linebacker Derrick Johnson showed up to practice not wearing their pads. Hali did run some drills with the defensive line, but Johnson spent the majority of his time on the sidelines.

The linebackers worked on drills to improve their handwork while rushing the quarterback. The hanging dummy simulated the offensive blocker. Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham wasn’t overly pleased with the men’s performance. “I wish I was 20 years younger. Ooooh. I’d be kicking some (butt).” When trying to explain to his players how to hit the blocker with their right and left arms, and follow through using their right arm as a “club,” Cunningham said, “Pull out his gut and stick it to his ear.”
When the offense and defense came together for a 7-on-7 scrimmage, Defensive Backs Coach David Gibbs repeatedly hollered, “Put your face on” to his men when they struggled to make big plays. When linebacker LeRue Rumph botched a play, allowing a receiver to pick up several yards, Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham was not pleased. “We just worked on that drill. What the (heck) is the matter with you?!”
Throughout the entire afternoon, the team seemed extra enthusiastic. A scuffle broke out between a couple players near the end of practice. Not only were the players enthusiastic, but Head Coach Herm Edwards also seemed cheery as he chatted with his players. “Bowe, I wish I was covering you,” Edwardssaid to wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. “No you don’t,” Bowe replied. After the scuffle that took place earlier, both sides of the ball were a little more on edge. When rookie cornerback Brandon Flowers did excellent covering his man, safety Bernard Pollard was elated. “You don’t give him a (explicit deleted) catch!” he chanted several times.

The team moved to an 11-on-11 drill with situations given to the players to work through. During the situation drills, several players made what would have been sacks in real-game situations on the quarterbacks. Defensive tackle Alfonso Boone had several of these “sacks.” Both first- string and second-string practiced the situation and in both cases, the defense won. Meaning the offense was unable to score.

Special teams
The special teams punt coverage unit started the practice with drills on the middle practice field. The first drill lined up the unit on the 10-yard line. The drill lasted for 13 minutes. Defenders worked to bust through the line to meet either kick return specialist B.J. Sams or cornerback Maurice Leggett on the return. Punter Dustin Colquitt rotated between punting the ball up the field and imitating a punt by taking two steps and dropping the ball on the ground. “Cover. Cover. Cover. Squeeze the ball,” instructed Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer during the drill.

A big blue mat was dragged onto the field and players lined up to practice blocking the punt. Players ran at a 45 degree angle to the mat, leaped and batted down a football tossed by an assistant coach in the direction of the mat. At the same time players in another line worked on blocking punts by running at a 45 degree angle and blocking the punt without diving to the ground. After each player had a few turns in each line, the mat and lines were turned so that the drill could be run in the opposite direction.

Extra Extra...
Players were warming up before practice started at 3:28. Players did multiple lines drills—from butt kicks to karaoke—going down 20 yards and back under the leadership of Strength and Conditioning Coach Cedric Smith. After completing the line drills players stretched before practice officially started to the sound of an air horn at 3:38.

Linebacker Napoleon Harris lost his helmet during an 11-on-11 drill. Linebacker E.J. Kuale worked with a trainer in between playing time today. His right leg was giving him trouble, most likely due to the hot weather, so the trainer helped him to stretch it out. Kuale tried to join the drill again but came of the field limping. He ran in place for a while before having it stretched out again for a couple minutes.

Center Rudy Niswanger spoke with media after practice. He commented on only getting playing time with quarterback Brodie Croyle. When asked how it felt to have running back Larry Johnson back after an injury last season, Niswanger said, “It’s great to have Larry back. When it’s a player at his caliber, it can only help you to have him back.”

After practice kick returner B.J. Sams practiced catching punts from a Juggs machine. He practiced with a rotation of four footballs for about ten minutes. On the final set, he caught the first punt and held it in one hand and then caught a second punt with his free hand. He did this with all four balls. Sams caught the final and fourth punt holding three other balls.

Fans
Vince, Kylie and Ashley Tolbert of New Hope, Minn., came up for today’s morning and afternoon practices. They were here for their first training camp experience. They were all dressed in Larry Johnson—their favorite player—jerseys. They were also looking forward to seeing all the new players.

Ryan Luessenheidi a UW-River Falls student from Minneapolis was just passing through and stopped to watch the Chiefs practice. He said he really enjoys watching football.

Former training camp courier Steve Baisden was at today’s practice. He took time to give his thoughts on life saying, “Life happens 10 yards at a time.” He was also impressed with the changes that have been made in River Falls. He thought the continuing updates to Hunt Arena have showed progressive change.

Observing today’s afternoon practice was former training camp courier, Kyle Cooper. He made the journey from Shoreview, Minn., to catch this morning’s practice as well. Cooper said he was interested in seeing the young team rebuild. “It’s strange to see numbers like 69 and 24 replaced by different players,” commented Cooper. Cooper was referring to last year’s stars defensive end Jared Allen and cornerback Ty Law, who are no longer with the team. Last year Cooper got to pick up wide receiver Dwayne Bowe from the airport at midnight once he signed with the team. “It was a highlight to see all the media attention around Bowe, especially with the Hard Knocks awaiting his arrival in the dorms.”

Two fans who enjoyed Kids’ Day this morning came back for the afternoon session of practice. Orville and Arsenio Black came to watch running back Larry Johnson who is their favorite player. It was Orville’s second year, and Arsenio’s first time at camp. Both are from the River Falls area and are planning on being here at the next Kids’ Day event.

A small group of bikers lined the outside of the practice field to witness the excitement of today’s practice. One of the bikers was Tyler Ames, a four-year resident of River Falls. He commented about how he likes to bike around everyday and catch the action in River Falls. He tries to drag his wife along, but she doesn’t like to watch football.

Biker Steve Kaminski is a long time Chicago White Sox, Bears and Blackhawks fan. He came out to enjoy some football and watch the Chiefs practice. Kaminski use to live in Chicago, but has lived in River Falls for the last 38 years. A few years ago Kaminski had a good time taking his friends from the area to Chicago to ride the “L” and see the two outdoor baseball parks, Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field. Kaminski is a big sports fan and was interested in finding out that the Chiefs will be at Soldier Field on August 7.
Pete Morris and Guy Schmitz made their way up to River Falls all the way from Independence, Mo. This was Morris’s third training camp. Morris worked for the Kansas City Chiefs ground crew in 1974. He said that River Falls has some very nice football facilities. Morris said, “Back in the day they would practice in the parking lot. We never had anything like this.” Schmitz has only missed three camps since 1991.“It’s cheaper to come up here for a week and have fun than it is to go to a single game down there. Plus the weather is much more enjoyable,” he said. Both Morris and Schmitz are interested in seeing how the young players will turn out. Schmitz is predicting that wide receiver Will Franklin will have a successful year as the Chiefs second wide receiver.

Eric and Jill Sullins of Independence, Mo attended practice. Eric is a history teacher and football coach in Kansas City. They really love the River Falls area and said they would move up here if they didn’t have so much family in Missouri. They are excited about the rookies that the Chiefs have brought in. They are expecting a daughter in September. Her name will be Madison.

Brett Blaire and his son Chase of Hudson, Wis.were checking out the Chiefs today. They said it is really cool that they only have to drive ten minutes to watch a NFL team practice. They made their trip over to River Falls because Chase really wanted to see the “big players.”