Teicher - Veteran Huard takes situation in stride

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Chiefs notes: Veteran Huard takes situation in stride
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Damon Huard gets another start as Chiefs quarterback on Sunday against Denver.

Damon Huard hasn’t lasted more than 11 NFL seasons as a backup quarterback without possessing a few survival skills. Some of those were on display Thursday when he wouldn’t say whether he thought his recent benching was fair.

“I didn’t play real well in the Raiders game,” Huard said, answering questions for the first time since being benched as the Chiefs interim starting quarterback last week and then reinstated for this week’s game against Denver at Arrowhead Stadium.

“I’m not one to argue or question or debate. That’s just not my style or my philosophy. Whatever they feel the best way for us to win a football game, that’s what we’ll do.

“When you’ve lost as many games in a row as we have, you’ve got to make those sort of moves to try to figure a way to win a game. That’s expected. That’s kind of what happens when you’re struggling, when you’re trying to turn over every stone to win a football game.

“As you get older, you don’t know how many more opportunities you’re going to get. All I know is I get another chance to go out there and play on Sunday.”

Huard left the Sept. 14 game against Oakland under mysterious circumstances. Starting as a replacement for the injured Brodie Croyle, Huard played two series.

Tyler Thigpen then replaced Huard and finished the game. The Chiefs announced shortly before the game’s conclusion that Huard had a mild concussion, though Huard said he was having neck problems.

Thigpen started last week’s game in Atlanta.

Huard is not listed on the Chiefs’ injury report, but Thigpen said Thursday he is sharing the practice snaps with Huard “because Damon can’t take them all.”

Asked whether he is injured, Huard said, “I’m not going to sit around and talk about injuries. Everybody as the season rolls on gets a little nicked up. I’ll be all right.”

In announcing that Huard would start against the Broncos, coach Herm Edwards said Huard was less prone to turnovers than Thigpen. That could mean the bench awaits Huard the first time he throws an interception.

“You try not to force it, but at the same time you have to trust your instincts,” Huard said. “When the opportunity is there, you have to make the throw. There are tight windows in this league and balls get tipped and interceptions happen.

“When that does happen, we can’t panic. That’s something we’ve done here, myself included. We’ve gotten behind and you throw an interception and you get down.”

Thigpen looking ahead

Thigpen said he wasn’t spending much time assessing his play from the Oakland and Atlanta games because he might be needed either Sunday against the Broncos or in next week’s game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.

“I’d love to be out there playing this week, but it was the coach’s decision to go with Damon and that’s the decision we’re going with. My job now is to be ready to go in as a backup.

“I feel good about getting some experience. There are a lot of things I could have done better, but I learned from them.”

No worries for Page

After losing 12 straight games, including three this season, the pressure is increasing exponentially each week on the Chiefs to bust out with a victory.

Safety Jarrad Page is taking the opposite approach.

“There’s no pressure any more,” he said. “It’s just about going out there and playing. There are no worries right now. We’re going to show up with that attitude.

“Going out there and stressing so hard, ‘We’ve got to do this and we’ve got to do that,’ it just wasn’t working. We’ve got to do something different. It’s not practice because it counts, but we’ve got to treat it like it’s practice. We should play just like we’ve been practicing.”