Chiefs’ Charles carrying more expectations this season

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs’ Charles carrying more expectations this season
By KENT BABB | THE KANSAS CITY STAR

ST. JOSEPH | He’s not a surprise anymore, and he admits that’s different. Things changed for Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles in the last 12 months, when he went from a young backup trying to unseat Larry Johnson to a runner who’s on the fast track to stardom.

It was at this time last year that Charles declared that, whether you believed him or not, he had it in him to be great. He had the confidence, and he had put in the work. He spent much of that offseason in the weight room, and when Johnson flamed out, Charles’ work paid off — rushing for at least 100 yards in five of Kansas City’s final eight games.

It was a grind, and Charles paid for it. It became a common sight to see the 199-pound youngster retreating to the sideline with his left arm dangling as he favored a battered shoulder. But when the huddle broke, there was Charles out there again. Maybe it was all that offseason work.

“I want guys that are tough-minded and can overcome,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. “That impressed me.”

Charles became a fan favorite. A celebrity. A player who was invited to offseason charity functions in his native Texas, and a target for constant distractions. He had surgery to repair that shoulder, and through healing and rehabilitation and time commitments, the kid who spent the 2009 offseason building his body for the next step, didn’t find his way into the weight room as often a year later.

“I just didn’t have much time,” Charles said this weekend after a late-afternoon training-camp session. “The shoulder situation just pushed me back.”

Now Charles and the Chiefs will see how this last offseason, different as it was from the previous one, will affect a player who carries the expectations of a team and community that has turned to him for relief.

Charles said he thinks the healthy shoulder will overcome any lack of conditioning and loss of strength. He said he initially wanted to delay surgery for perhaps another season, but it became clear to him that things weren’t improving.

“Me not worrying about the shoulder, I think that’s a good thing,” said Charles, who is heading into his third season with the Chiefs. “That’s why I got the surgery, to get me healthy and get me better.

“I just want to be the best. That’s how I look at it every day.”

As important as Charles is to this year’s offense, Kansas City does have an insurance policy. The Chiefs signed free-agent running back Thomas Jones during the offseason, and he worked this weekend with the first-team offense. Charles, meanwhile, ran with the backups.

Haley wouldn’t admit that it’s a psychological ploy to keep Charles hungry, to prod him to rediscover the inferiority complex he carried into last year’s training camp. But Haley has said often that he’s not above mind games if it helps motivate a player, particularly a youngster with as much upside as Charles.

“That’s coaching,” Haley said. “I’m not real interested in any of these guys being real comfortable. Maybe down the road when we’re a real good team and some real good things are happening.”

For his part, Charles said he’s not yet satisfied. Too many goals still to reach. He added that he’s glad Kansas City signed Jones, 31. That will keep the Chiefs from overusing Charles, something the team might have been guilty of last year out of necessity — Charles’ teammates just weren’t as productive as the young running back that almost no one saw coming.

“Last year, you saw sometimes when I left the game, we weren’t really moving the ball,” Charles said. “We know if either one goes out of the game, the offense is still balanced.

“I don’t even look at it like the starters. It’s whoever finishes the game. I can start, he can start; it’s about who finishes the game, who’s doing something in the game that helps their team out. It’s not about a starter right now. That’s why they got Thomas, to have a one-two punch.”

Now the Chiefs will wait to find out how Charles holds up to so many variables. Will his shoulder hold up? Can the rest of him hold up? How will he do now that he’s not the only one who expects big things?

Things have changed, but Charles said there’s much more to be done.

“I’ve got to keep that up and stay out of trouble and focus,” he said. “Going to the playoffs, going to the Pro Bowl, stuff like that. I’ve got to start pushing myself toward that now.”