Gretz: Chiefs Practice Update 8/19

[Tribal Warfare]

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Chiefs Practice Update 8/19
August 19, 2008 - Bob Gretz |

From the Truman Sports Complex

If you are reading this somewhere close to Kansas City you know that we’ve been gifted with a nice stretch of weather here this week. To have 80 degrees and low humidity in August is pretty unusual, and everyone has been enjoying the milder weather.

Except Herm Edwards. Just like Marty Schottenheimer, Gunther Cunningham and Dick Vermeil before him, Edwards used the mild temperatures of River Falls, Wisconsin to do the heavy lifting of two-a-day practices. The coaches then looked forward to the return to Kansas City, where they would practice just once a day, but the heat and humidity would be high. It would be under these conditions that the team’s stamina would be built for three weeks leading into the season opener.

So this year’s team has gotten off lucky with the temperature and humidity level. But Edwards and the coaching staff are barking at them long and loud that now is the time they must get in shape. No. 1 units took more plays in Tuesday’s practice, while the No. 3s barely got on the field. So far in the pre-season, the starters have played the equivalent to one half of football. They’ll need more stamina to play a full game starting September 7th in Foxboro.

That made the pace fast and furious as the offense and defense ran through over 50 plays In the first part of the team work, QB Brodie Croyle and WR Dewayne Bowe were on fire, completing passes to both sides of the field. Later Croyle connected with WR Bobby Sippio on a couple nice throws. Best offensive play of the session came on a 1st-and-10 play at the defense’s 43-yard line when Croyle hit WR Jeff Webb on a long pass into the end zone for a TD. Webb was at least Croyle’s third option on the play, as he got good protection and threw a pretty lead pass that Webb grabbed with three defensive players converging on him.

Defenisvely, both Tamba Hali and Turk McBride were very disruptive, especially against the Chiefs running game. Several times RBs Larry Johnson and Jackie Battle couldn’t get moving forward because they had Hali or McBride in their lap within mili-seconds after the hand off. CB Brandon Carr had an interception of a pass that was tipped downfield.

The offensive-defensive lines had a session of pass protection-pass rush and DT Glenn Dorsey is starting to show something in these sessions. Going against C-G Wade Smith, he came off the snap and just blasted Smith in a hit that was audible a practice field away. Smith weighs close to 300 pounds but he was knocked backwards.

RT Damion McIntosh injured his ankle during practice and did not take part in the team work. Rookie Barry Richardson stepped in for him with the starting unit. There was no definitive assessment after practice on how serious McIntosh’s injury might be and whether that would limit his ability to play in Miami this weekend.

The rest of the injury situation remains the same.