****The Official 2009 Training Camp Update Thread****

[DaWolf]

Figure we might as well have one?

http://www.bobgretz.com/
http://www.uwrf.edu/chiefs/prev_updates.php
http://www.kcchiefs.com/default.asp
http://chiefsblog.kansascity.com/
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/
http://twitter.com/kb_kcstar
http://twitter.com/brandoncarr
http://kan.scout.com/
http://www.arrowheadpride.com/
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/KC

[the Talking Can]

Bowe lined up wrong in his first play on Sat, had to be corrected by Bradley...according to 610 this morning


assume that is what Haley is referencing

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by Coogs

And Gretz's practice update...



Here’s other nuggets and info from the morning session:
– When the No. 1 offense was on the field Monday morning, second-year man Barry Richardson was at right tackle. It had nothing to do with injuries, because Damion McIntosh worked at RT on the No. 2 offensive line, while Herb Taylor worekd with the second group at LT..

nice

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

nice

**** YEAH!!!!

[bobbything]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

Haley is over-coaching the Bowe situation. Let him get in synch with Cassel instead of some continued public humiliation.

+eleventybillion

[wasi]

Originally Posted by Coogs

“I was encouraged with what Dwayne did in the game. There were some highlights and a couple of things Dwayne did that proably weren’t noticed that need to be better.”

Haley also mentions run blocking in today's Q & A on the team website.

IIRC, that was supposed to be one of Bowe's strengths.. that was according to Herm I think so it was probably bull.

[Chiefnj2]

Since the first string usually doesn't get more than one series in game 4 of the preseason, I'd really like to see the "real" first string offense together for the first quarter of the Vikings game.

[Mr. Arrowhead]

What I like about Haley is he is not scared to try different things, like with Mcnisuck doing what he does best, and that is suck off, so hes giving Barry Richardson some reps at RT with the first string.

[KCrockaholic]

So what happened to that "rumor" that we were going to trade our 2nd pick for a WR? ...Just more offseason BS?

[Mecca]

Someone has to be willing to offer something...

[bobbything]

The whole schtick with Bowe is a nice front. The bit with the depth chart and all the talk of "we want people that do it our way." But, by the 3rd preseason game, it better be over and done with if the coaches want any kind (and I stress any kind) of continuity on offense. Running the 3rd team WRs out there with the 1st team offense doesn't really do anything but screw with the cohesion of the unit at this point.

I like the message that's being sent, but everyone knows who the best players are at that position. I can't speak for all the things that Bowe apparently doesn't do well enough to Haley's liking. But I'd like to think that his impact will outweigh the ego of the coach. Even if he has to be corrected by Bradley from time to time when lining up.

[Molitoth]

Originally Posted by Coogs

A take from Gretz on the Bowe situation from this morning...


August 17, 2009 - Bob Gretz | Comments (31)

From River Falls, Wisconsin


If I’ve used this story before, then excuse me. But I think it’s very illustrative in explaining WR Dwayne Bowe’s situation with the Chiefs.

Years ago the late defensive coordinator/NFL head coach Bud Carson was talking about players. He said something I’ve never forgotten. Bud said the players on a team fall into three categories: those that know what it takes to win, those that don’t know, and those that don’t know that they don’t know.

“It’s that third group that will get you killed as a coach,” the crusty Carson said. “I’d rather have a guy without a clue, than a guy that thinks he has all the answers but doesn’t know squat.”

So on a rainy Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium, Bowe fights his way out of the head coach’s doghouse, has a nice game and now everybody wants Todd Haley to take his mercurial wide receiver off the choke chain and let him run free again in the neighborhood.

Whether Bowe is back running with the first-team offense this coming Friday night against the Vikings over in Minneapolis remains to be seen. But it wouldn’t make much sense for Haley to suddenly stop what has obviously begun to produce some results.

Bowe definitely falls in the category of players who “don’t know what they don’t know.” There have been a lot of those guys on the Chiefs roster in this decade. They believed they had the plan and answers to create a winning team, but it’s turned out over 10 years that they didn’t even have the right questions, let alone the correct answers. In two seasons, Bowe has caught 156 passes for 2,017 yards and he believes that gives him credibility. Of course, those catches and yards came for a team that finished 6-26.

Bowe and many other young veterans on this Chiefs team have no idea what it takes to be a consistent winner in pro football.
That’s what Haley is trying to create with this team. It doesn’t mean he’ll get that accomplished, or that Haley’s way is the best way. But it’s a tried and true method that has worked dozens of times before in the NFL. The first step in the process is personal responsibility. The second step is consistency.

Go back to what Haley said in the first week of camp: “I don’t want a yo-yo team and I don’t want yo-yo players. I really want to be the same every day. If we get fractionally better each day, or each week, then we’ll be OK.”

Yo-yo: that’s what Bowe has been during this training camp and over his three seasons with the Chiefs. To qualify under what Haley wants requires a consistent approach to practices and meetings. It’s a focus and motivation that gets turned on not when the stadium lights come on, but when the meeting room lights go off and the tape is being reviewed.

It doesn’t just come when there can be a “Bowe Show” with tens of thousands of people watching. It comes when there are less than 100 folks enjoying a sunny afternoon in River Falls and barely making a sound.

It comes every single day, without fail and without question.

Bowe has problems putting all those elements together for any length of time. His focus can waver from play to play, let alone practice to practice. He’s gotten close to some consistency during two practices last week here in the northwoods and then in Saturday night’s pre-season game against the Texans.

Close enough that he’s got the head coach’s attention. Calling Bowe’s five-catch, 70-yard performance against the Texans a “definite positive”, Haley also made it plain there remains work to get done.

“Like I said, we are going to play the guys that we think are doing it the way we want it done,” said the head coach. “That was the way we went tonight (against Houston), but again that can change. But Bowe … definitely showed something.”

It’s hard to imagine Haley taking Bowe completely off the chain and letting him run free again. That would defeat the purpose of what he’s been trying to get done. More than likely Haley is going to have to pull that chain at various times to get Bowe’s attention.

This is the chance that Haley and his coaching staff have of getting Bowe with the program. Fines and discipline don’t make a dent with most of today’s NFL players. The only thing that really grabs their attention is messing with their opportunities to perform.

With the ‘09 Chiefs, Bowe is the most physically gifted receiver on the roster. That doesn’t make him the best at the position, but it should and could, if he’ll become a true pro and learn how to handle himself. Yes, Matt Cassel needs Dwayne Bowe in the lineup. But not the Dwayne Bowe that drops too many passes, runs too many bad routes and doesn’t always get to where he’s supposed to be in the play.

The Chiefs have already proven then can go 6-26 with that Dwayne Bowe.

They need a different one.

Ace article imo.

[donkhater]

Does Copper and/or Darling even make this team when it's all said and done?

[wasi]

Originally Posted by bobbything

The whole schtick with Bowe is a nice front. The bit with the depth chart and all the talk of "we want people that do it our way." But, by the 3rd preseason game, it better be over and done with if the coaches want any kind (and I stress any kind) of continuity on offense. Running the 3rd team WRs out there with the 1st team offense doesn't really do anything but screw with the cohesion of the unit at this point.

I like the message that's being sent, but everyone knows who the best players are at that position. I can't speak for all the things that Bowe apparently doesn't do well enough to Haley's liking. But I'd like to think that his impact will outweigh the ego of the coach. Even if he has to be corrected by Bradley from time to time when lining up.

I don't think Haley comes off as being egocentric at all. He's been around some very successful coaches in his career and has been taking notes all along. He is going with what he has seen work in the past. That seems to include weighting the good of the team higher than an individual talent. I have not problem with the change in philosophy.. hopefully it'll benefit the Chiefs and Bowe. There is certainly enough positive evidence to back up what Haley is attempting.

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs coach Haley says Kansas City is undergoing a crisis of confidence

Chiefs coach Todd Haley said Monday morning that the Chiefs' biggest problem right now, along with their wide receivers, is that the team very little confidence. That's not a surprise, after the past two seasons, in which the Chiefs combined for six wins.

Now, Haley said, Kansas City is trying to figure out how to do the little things to defeat other teams.

"We've got to learn how to win," Haley said.

Coaches often say that losing becomes habitual, and Haley has said it became clear to him that it's not only among the Chiefs' bad habits, it's also part of the team's culture.

One of Haley's many balancing acts, as he approaches his first regular season as a head coach, is trying to win preseason games while keeping his expected starters healthy and fresh. Still, Haley said, a win Friday against Minnesota would be valuable for this group.

"There's always that temptation," Haley said, responding to whether he might go for the win Saturday, even if it means extending the time of some regulars. "But going overboard on the game-plan portion could get you in trouble."

Haley said this part of the preseason remains about evaluation. But for a team starved for victories, a win would be nice.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Raised On Riots

Congratulations to the "keep beating a dead Bowe"-crowd; you're Bob Gretz.

As they say, even a blind squirrel can sometimes find a nut.

Gretz isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but in this case, he's absolutely right.