[BigRedChief]

Monday, August 11, 2008: Afternoon Practice
Offense

Offensive tackle Branden Albert watched from the sidelines for the first time during practice. He wore a large removable cast on his right foot—a foot he sprained earlier in camp—and braced himself with crutches.
Offensive tackle Ken Shackleford practiced for the first time after agreeing to terms on a two-year contract with the Chiefs.
The offense practiced with full pads for the first time since they returned to River Falls after their first preseason game in Chicago last Thursday. Practice consisted of the same drills the team had been doing without pads, but the intensity and physicality noticeably increased.
Running back Larry Johnson threw passes to all three quarterbacks, after the positions split up, working on taking direct snaps and completing screen passes in an unorthodox formation.
Meanwhile the wide receivers ran formations in groups of three. Wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Devard Darling worked together as the first-string with wide receiver Kevin McMahan working the slot with them.

Wide receiver Will Franklin, who typically works with the first-string in the slot, worked with second-string wide receivers Jeff Webb and Maurice Price. Webb practiced well, including making a phenomenal one-handed grab during 11-on-11 that induced a response of: “Oh I see you Webb…Stop showing off Webb!” from Head Coach Herm Edwards.
Wide receiver Bobby Sippio also showed off his hands with a great one-handed catch in warm-ups that brought on a cheer from the crowd. During that drill Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey was lined up in a defensive manner that Head Coach Herm Edwards joked about as he entered the field.

“Hey, you’re a linebacker now?” Edwards joked to Gailey.
“Na, a defensive tackle,” Gailey said back before encouraging Sippio after his catch.
Running backs Jamaal Charles and Larry Johnson split carries with the first-string, with Charles also working with the second-string. Running back Kolby Smith participated in his first full-pads practice since injuring his groin earlier in camp; he worked with the third-string behind running back Jackie Battle.
The catch of the day came from wide receiver Maurice Price who made a magnificent one-handed grab after cornerback Tyron Brackenridge tipped—and nearly intercepted—quarterback Damon Huard’s thrown pass.

Defense
While the defensive backs worked on the sleds, two of the five dummies on the sled got busted off. The backs were pumped up, and Defensive Backs Coach David Gibbs was quite impressed by the degree of hitting his men were showing.
Safety Jon McGraw, linebacker Donnie Edwards, linebacker Napoleon Harris and defensive end Trevor Johnson did not practice today.
Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie really preached to his men about disengaging the offensive blockers. “It’s about an attitude. Get pissed when you do it. Don’t let no damn tight end block you,” he yelled. When rookie defensive end Brian Johnston disengaged defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Krumrie loved it. He said to Johnston, “Howdy doody, Brian. That’s how you do it,” and smacked Johnston on the back.

Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham and his linebackers ran a new drill. Dummies were set up to represent the lines. A defensive player stepped on the offensive side of the line and ran at the linebackers through each of the gaps. The hits were hard, and linebacker E.J. Kuale busted his helmet due to the blow. As the defense headed back to Ramer Field to join the offense, Cunningham said to linebacker Derrick Johnson: “DJ, it’s real nice that you’re helping carry water bottles and (crap).” Johnson laughed.

Defensive tackle Alfonso Boone practiced with the second-string when the defense ran its basic offense, but he practiced with the first-string when the nickel was being run. When he played with the second-string, Boone lined up on the outside of the line as a defensive back, and he was a defensive tackle when he practiced with the first-string.
Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey saw a little bit of time practicing with the first nickel. Dorsey is still nursing his sprained knee, so the coaching staff has vowed to take it easy on the rookie.
During 11-on-11, defensive tackle Alfonso Boone pressured quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen. The pressure would have resulted in sacks had it been a real-game situation. Defensive end Turk McBride had two deflections on balls throw by Croyle as well. On a Croyle pass to wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, rookie safety DaJuan Morgan dove in front of the receiver attempting to make the pick. Though he didn’t come away with the ball, Morgan did force an incomplete pass.
Defensive end Brian Johnston sat out a few plays near the end of practice, complaining that his groin hurt.

After practice, defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey worked one-on-one with Defensive Line Coach Tim Krumrie. Krumrie ran Dorsey through a five minute non-stop drill. This drill included hand-fighting, 10-yard sprints and foot work. After the drill, Dorsey was visibly exhausted and the two of them joked about it.

Special Teams
Practice started with 15 minutes of special teams work. Punter Dustin Colquitt punted from the minus 30 towards the north end of Ramer Field. Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer instructed the cover team to: “Cover 10 yards only today.” The first cover team was made up of a mix of offensive and defensive players: wide receiver Jeff Webb, Sergiori Joachim, tight end Michael Allan, fullback Mike Cox, running back Jackie Battle, defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic, safety Khayyam Burns, linebackers Demorrio Williams and Derrick Johnson and cornerback Rashad Barksdale.

With 5:58 left on the clock, the unit began a kickoff cover drill. Kicker Connor Barth took the role as first-string kicker. The cover team—wearing yellow skull caps—worked on finding the ball and squeezing in on the returner. The first cover team consisted of: cornerbacks Dimitri Patterson and Tyron Brackenridge, safeties Khayyam Burns and DaJuan Morgan, linebackers E.J. Kuale, Steve Octavien, Derrick Johnson and Weston Dacus. Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer complimented both kickers (Nick Novak and Connor Barth) after the drill saying,"That's a real good job of using the wind. Both of you. You didn't try to over kick it."
After position work kickers Nick Novak and Connor Barth took three attempts at field goals during a 9-on-7 drill. Novak missed one and Barth missed two. Novak missed his 48-yard attempt and Barth his 45 and 53-yard attempts.

Herm Edwards Press Conference
Head Coach Herm Edwards spent a few minutes answering questions from the media after practice. Edwards said that the team can afford to have one-a-day practices until the end of camp. For him, realizing that his young football team will play physical and having only 80 players at camp made it necessary. “Players appreciate rest. They get worn out,” he said. Edwards also stressed the importance of classroom work saying, “Having the ability to transfer what they get in the classroom onto the field. Classroom work is key.”

Edwards said that linebacker Donnie Edwards will probably see playing time starting next week. He also commented on defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey’s condition and said he is still day-to-day. “We don’t want to put him in harms way. He needs to be 100 percent.”
Wide receiver Devard Darling was mentioned as a player who is contributing a lot to the team. Edwards said the defense still needs to work on the run game. As far as who is ahead in camp—the veterans or rookies—Edwards said the veterans. He mentioned that the young players are expected to make errors and when they occur, they’re trying to correct them.

Extra Extra...
Players were out early prepping for practice to begin on Ramer Field. Members of the kick/punt squad warmed up their legs on the south side of the field while other players played catch and ran short routes on the north end. The moods of the players was fairly mellow.
An air horn sounded at 3:28 to signal it was time for warm-ups.
Several defensive players were out on the field at 3 to begin stretching and talking to coaches before practice. Practice started at 3:45
Head Coach Herm Edwards headed out to Ramer Field at 3 and stood on the 50-yard line while he talked to Special Teams Coach Mike Priefer.
Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe received a thorough stretch from one of team’s athletic trainers. Bowe “ooo’ed” and “ahhh’ed” multiple times, which made it seem as if it was painful.

Vice President Denny Thum was present during today’s practice.
Former Vice President of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt was present at practice today. Brandt spent 29 years with the Cowboys. Brandt currently serves as a personnel guru for NFL.com, where he evaluates all aspects of players and teams in the NFL.

Twenty players took time to sign autographs after practice today.
Wide receiver Devard Darling spoke to media after practice. He said that the hardest part of coming to the United States from the Bahamas was that there were no uniforms in school here. Back home, he had to wear brown pants and a white shirt to school everyday. He later talked about his brother, Devaughn, who passed away at age 18 of complications tied to the sickle cell trait. The hardest part for Devard is, “Waking up and not seeing him and hearing his voice. It’s a harsh reality. I can’t see him, hear him or talk to him (in person.)” Devard still talks to his brother everyday. He thanks the Lord and his family everyday. He realizes that life goes on. “I play with his picture in my pads everyday.” On the back of his picture, it reads: I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Philippians 4: 13.” Devard understands that there are certain precautions that he needs to take. “I know my body. I train hard, harder than most people out here. I never hold back,” he said. He finished with, “In everything I do in life, I want to honor my brother. We had dreams of being great NFL players and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Fans
Making their way from Kansas City, Mo., Mark and Gloria Towers watched their first practice of camp. The two have the week off from work and want to stay for the rest of the week until the Chiefs break camp. They said they have been fans since they moved to Kansas City from Austin, Texas, in 2001. Their favorite player is former Texas University linebacker Derrick Johnson.
Long time Chiefs fans, as well as Kansas Jayhawk fans, Stephanie, Darrell, and their son Michael Gallagher (9) sat high in he Ramer Field bleachers for today’s action. Michael, wearing a red tight end Tony Gonzalez jersey, said his favorite player has always been Gonzalez. The family is from Lawrence, Kan., and plans to head back home tomorrow. The family has seen a group of players at Shopko in town, and thinks it’s neat seeing the Chiefs driving their luxury vehicles all around town. “They stick out like a sore thumb,” said Darrell.

River Falls residents Travis and Tom Beckett stood by the autograph corner waiting for practice to end to snag some signatures from the players. The two boys had a football covered with autographs. Travis was really hoping this would be his chance to get quarterback Brodie Croyle’s autograph; who he has missed in the previous days. The brothers said they just got done swimming at Glen Park this afternoon.
Phil Rassen from Kansas City, Mo., cheered on his Chiefs at training camp for his fifth year in a row. Rassen has had season tickets for the last fifteen years. He said, “This is going to be a good year. I think the Chiefs are going to be the NFL’s biggest surprise this season.” Rassen predicts that the Chiefs will go 9-7 this upcoming year and continually improve on that for the next five years. His favorite player is wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.

Paul and Brenda O’Brien from Woodbury, Minn., attended Chiefs training camp for the second year in a row. Brenda said that she is trying to convert Paul from being a Minnesota Vikings fan to being a Kansas City Chiefs fan. She said, “I think I am making some good strides in converting him.” Brenda’s favorite Chief is running back Larry Johnson. Her goal is to get her picture taken with him before camp is over. Both Brenda and Paul will be back to watch the Chiefs on Thursday.
This was the first time at Chiefs training camp for Zach Tanner from Stillwater, Minn. Because he had the day off, Tanner thought there was not a better way to kill an afternoon than watching a NFL team practice. Tanner said, “I can’t believe how big and fast some of the players are.” His favorite part of practice is watching the coaches get fired up at players. He said that he plans on watching the Chiefs camp next year if they come up to River Falls.