KC Chiefs D Update

[spain]

Any word on how Maslowski is doing?

[Beaumont]

Any word on how Maslowski is doing?

 

903383[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

No practices yet that I can tell ... still limited. They claim he will be practicing soon ...

[Chief Dick]

Looks like they signed Derrick Johnson today.

[Beaumont]

Top pick headed to Chiefs camp

 

Linebacker agrees to $10.5 million, five-year deal

 

By ADAM TEICHER

 

The Kansas City Star

 

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Linebacker Derrick Johnson spent the last few days at home in Austin, Texas, sleeping in, playing a healthy dose of video games, getting an update on his contract negotiations and working out at a local gym.

 

“I know my days are about to change,” Johnson said Sunday night. “My days of sleeping in are over.”

 

That’s because Johnson, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick, agreed to terms of a five-year, $10.5 million contract. Johnson could make as much as $13.6 million if he reaches incentives that would boost his fifth-year salary. About $7.8 million of the contract is guaranteed.

 

Johnson was to arrive at training camp today, though the Chiefs indicated Johnson might not join practice until Tuesday.

 

Johnson was a star of the offseason practices at left-side linebacker. He was playing second-team behind Keyaron Fox but perhaps only because the Chiefs didn’t want to provide Johnson’s agent, Vann McElroy, ammunition for negotiations.

 

Judging by his rate of progress in the spring, Johnson should claim a starting spot long before the Chiefs’ Sept. 11 season-opener against the Jets at Arrowhead Stadium.

 

“I’ll be ready for that as soon as the coaches believe in me,” Johnson said. “I was anxious the whole time, ever since camp started. I knew my agent had a job to do and it’s all part of the business, but I’ve never been sitting out of football when everybody else was working.

 

“I know I’ll naturally be a little behind because I missed a few practices but I don’t have any worries about that. I don’t think it will take too long to catch up.”

 

Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson and assistant general manager Denny Thum spent part of Sunday holed up in an equipment shed on the north side of the stadium as the Chiefs practiced on the grass. They were negotiating via phone with McElroy and one of his associates.

 

This was nothing new for Peterson, who has finished past deals at a Perkins restaurant and other odd locales in River Falls.

 

With about 30 minutes left in the evening workout, McElroy told The Star, “It’s done.”

 

Coach Dick Vermeil finished the workout without knowing about the deal. As Vermeil fielded questions about Johnson’s holdout, Peterson walked behind Vermeil and announced that the agreement had been reached.

 

“All of the chickens are now in the henhouse,” Peterson said.

 

Vermeil slapped Peterson on the back and said: “Hey! Nice job, coach!”

 

When the Chiefs started camp Thursday without Johnson, it was an ominous sign. The last three times the Chiefs arrived in River Falls without their top draft pick, the player’s arrival was delayed considerably and the negotiations turned acrimonious.

 

This time, Johnson is only a few days late for camp and the talks never turned bitter.

 

“It was a very professional negotiation,” Peterson said.

 

“It may be surprising to some of you but no tempers flared. No profanity was exchanged. It was just a continual process of trying to get it done.”

 

McElroy was aware of the Chiefs’ negotiating history and hopeful it didn’t repeat.

 

“In the past, some of their guys have been three weeks late to training camp,” McElroy said. “It’s been a nightmare. But they handled the negotiations in a respectful way. It got a little testy at times but it never got nasty and the wrong things were never said. Both parties were above that.”

 

The parameters of a deal became easier to reach when players selected immediately before and after Johnson reached agreements in recent days with their respective teams. Johnson was the 15th pick of the first round.

 

Since the Chiefs started camp, the two players selected before Johnson, Jammal Brown of New Orleans and Thomas Davis of Carolina, and the one chosen behind him, Houston’s Travis Johnson, agreed to deals.

 

“With the other players coming in at No. 13, No. 14 and No. 16 … Derrick’s representatives felt very comfortable with where we were and what we were doing,” Peterson said.

 

McElroy said a call from Peterson on Saturday was even more crucial to the discussions, which to that point weren’t progressing with any great speed.

 

“That really kick-started this thing,” McElroy said. “We had a frank talk about what we were both trying to accomplish, and I think each side really understood the other. We wanted a fair contract and the Chiefs wanted Derrick in to training camp. He’s a great player and they understand how important he is to their team.”

 

When it was all over, Peterson had a short phone exchange with Johnson and told him to expect some ribbing from his teammates when he arrived in River Falls today.

 

“Well, you’re behind about seven practices,” Peterson told Johnson. “You’ve got some catching up to do.”

[muck]

Good for us!

[Beaumont]

GRETZ: Mitchell in the Middle

Aug 01, 2005, 8:24:30 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

 

 

RIVER FALLS, WI – Those Chiefs fans who like to dial up the sports yakkers and fill up internet message boards with their opinions aren’t going to like this news coming out of the north woods.

 

Kawika Mitchell is the Chief starting middle linebacker. A favorite whipping boy for the red and gold fans, Mitchell is running with the first team and running hard.

 

“I’ll just have to change their opinions,” Mitchell said.

 

Mitchell has gone a long way in changing in the opinion of the man who counts the most: defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Mitchell showed improvement at the end of last season. But when the off-season started, Cunningham wasn’t sure Mitchell was the guy who could play the middle in his defense. It wasn’t as much a question of talent, as it was whether he had the demeanor to be the defensive leader.

 

Cunningham questioned Mitchell’s toughness. He showed him tape of missed tackles, or plays where he reached for ball carriers instead of throwing his body into the play. There were not the collisions that are so necessary to playing the middle linebacker position.

 

“I think there reached a point where he was ready to kill me,” Cunningham said.

 

That was the point. While Cunningham wasn’t trying to pull some head game routine on his middle linebacker (”Everything I said was true,” Gunther said) he also wanted to see Mitchell’s reaction. Would he pout? Would he try to prove him wrong? Mitchell picked the second option.

 

“I didn’t like what I heard,” said Mitchell. “I had to find a way to prove to him that I could be the type of player who can not only play this defense, but run it on the field.”

 

Cunningham wonders about that less and less these days. When asked if there was any doubt Mitchell was his starting middle linebacker, Gunther said “none.” But he added: “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but Kawika has done what we’ve asked and he’s getting better and better.”

 

Right now, there’s nobody even close to pushing him for the starting job. NFL Europe Defensive Most Valuable Player Rich Scanlon has looked good in the early going, but he’s working with the third-team defense and generally running up against the third-team offense. Rookie draft choice Boomer Grigsby has struggled with the second-team defense, especially against the run. Too often, he’s getting blocked and taken out of plays, while he’s looking for the football, rather than filling his assigned gap.

 

But Mitchell isn’t cruising into the position. He earned the middle linebacker spot with his off-season work. The improvement has continued here in River Falls. He’s getting to the ball, he’s making plays and he’s directing the defense. Not only that, but he never leaves the field; when the Chiefs go to their sub defenses, he’s on the field for all of them, whether it’s nickel with an extra defensive back, or their four-linebacker set.

 

In effect, he’s doing all the things Cunningham wants his middle linebacker to do on the field. He’s even talking loud enough that his voice can be heard on the sidelines.

 

“I’m not a real vocal guy,” Mitchell said. “So I’ve had to change that. But it’s been easier every day because I feel more comfortable every day. I feel comfortable in my understanding of the defense and in my understanding of what Gunther wants to get done on the field.”

 

Comfortable enough that he’s taken charge in the huddle and even asked his defensive coordinator to remove himself from the group. “He threw me out,” Cunningham laughed.

 

What caught Cunningham’s eye even more were back-to-back plays in a practice this past weekend. Center Casey Wiegmann snapped the ball and came out to block Mitchell. “Kawika took his head off,” Cunningham said. “Casey said something to him about it and on the next play Kawika went right after him again.

 

“That’s what we are looking for from our guy in the middle.”

 

Last year, Mitchell struggled with picking up Cunningham’s scheme, largely because it was so different from what he’d played under during his rookie season under Greg Robinson. In an oversimplified explanation, Cunningham wants his linebackers to read and move forward, while Robinson was more interested in his linebackers reading and then going side to side.

 

Mitchell was not sure of himself and that led to his biggest problem: his tackling. Mitchell missed some ball carriers early in the season that hurt the Chiefs.

 

“It wasn’t until the end of the season that I really felt like I knew what I was doing,” said Mitchell. “I think late in the year my play improved and that was due entirely to me having a better understanding of what Gunther wanted and how it all fits together. That’s no longer a problem, so tackling should no longer be a problem.”

 

Mitchell was just the poster boy for an overall team problem with tackling that Cunningham is working on in every single practice. Under Robinson, the defensive player were told to tag off on the ball carrier, meaning get to the ball and then touch the player on the hips.

 

Gunther is on his guys to wrap up the ball carrier. Even though there is no real tackling in training camp, he wants his players to stop the momentum of the guy with the ball.

 

“One of Kawika’s problems is he reaches,” said Cunningham. “It’s something that all the guys that were here before do. It’s part of what I mean when I say we are trying to change the culture here, change the way they think about playing defense. We don’t reach, we hit.”

 

Kawika Mitchell has gotten that message, loud and clear.

 

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years before heading up KCFX-FM's sports department. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. His column appears three times a week during the season.

[Beaumont]

Posted on Thu, Aug. 04, 2005

 

Chiefs counting on Knight, Surtain to revive secondary

 

DOUG TUCKER

 

Associated Press

 

RIVER FALLS, Wis. - The young linebacker, with hopes of becoming a team leader, watched intently as safety Sammy Knight quickly closed on the tight end and knocked a pass away with exquisite timing.

 

"I'd like to be like Sammy Knight," said an admiring Kawika Mitchell.

 

A nine-year veteran who signed as an unrestricted free agent this year, Knight is drawing rave reviews from his new Kansas City teammates for both his physical abilities and skills as a leader - qualities that have been sorely lacking among the Chiefs defense for several years.

 

"I'd definitely say Sammy Knight," defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said when asked to identify his leaders.

 

For many players and coaches, however, Patrick Surtain has been even more impressive during the first week in the Chiefs camp.

 

One of the NFL's elite cornerbacks the past few years, Surtain answered Kansas City's frantic call for a "cover corner" in the spring, when he was traded from Miami, where he had played for two years with Knight and helped form one of the league's top defenses.

 

"Patrick Surtain is truth," said Dante Hall, ace kick returner and veteran wide receiver. "This defense is a lot smarter, especially with Patrick. It's really exciting."

 

Everyone connected with the Chiefs seems excited about the way the new - and hopefully improved - defense is taking shape. There could be more than five new starters and a completely new look for an outfit that's rested near the bottom of the NFL for several years and scuttled all the benefits of a topflight offense.

 

Key to the new defense could be the Knight/Surtain secondary combo. There is no doubt their help was desperately needed.

 

During the past three years, the highest the Chiefs have ranked in overall defense among the 32 teams in the NFL is 29th. While the offense led the league in total yards last season, the defense was next-to-last.

 

But their pass defense was even worse - dead last.

 

Knight and Surtain hope to change that.

 

"I've just always been the type of guy that goes after it," said Knight. "I don't know if I'm a leader who's going to talk it all up. I try to lead by example. If leading is helping people out when they need help, that's fine. I need help, too. We're all leaders out there. Everybody's helping each other."

 

Ever since two-a-days began last week, Surtain has looked every bit like the interception specialist he was known to be in Miami.

 

The two-time Pro Bowler has the league's third-highest interception total since 2000. In the past five seasons, he has made 25 picks.

 

"He's real. He's awfully good," head coach Dick Vermeil said. "He gets about a takeaway a day. He's been very impressive with a tremendous work ethic. I look up at special teams as we're working on kickoff returns and there's Patrick Surtain covering the kickoffs.

 

"We brought him here because he's a fine player and a fine young man. He's got some leadership skills that will permeate how this defense plays."

 

The only position group on the defense that does not have a high-profile newcomer is the line. But the improvement in the secondary is giving the big boys a boost, too.

 

"Those guys are playing great coverage behind us, which helps, which is a big change from the last couple of years," said defensive end Eric Hicks. "Those guys seem to be picking it up well."

 

While the Chiefs have an offense that ranks among the most powerful in the NFL, the wish among most Kansas City fans since 2002 has been for a defense that's at least average.

 

It's a hope that brings a scowl to the anchors of the new secondary.

 

"When I hear that it makes me sick to my stomach. It really does," said Knight. "These guys are out here busting their tails every day. We expect to be the top defense in the league. That's what we shoot for. Just like the offense expects to be the top offense, we expect to be the top defense.

 

"Anything else is uncivilized."

[Beaumont]

Q&A with DICK VERMEIL

Aug 05, 2005, 10:55:02 AM

 

 

TRAINING CAMP

 

 

Morning

Q: How was the work after a day off?

 

DICK VERMEIL: “Like I told them: days off and vacation have one thing in common. They come to an end and you have to go back to work. They did. It took them a little while. It takes a while to get their motors running again, but they did a good job.”

 

Q: Keyaron Fox is now playing on the right side at linebacker. How’s that working out?

 

VERMEIL: “We want him to be able to play both, so he has to work at both. We can’t say what game during the year someone might not be able to play. If he’s not starting he’s got to be able to play more than one spot. We’ll do with some other linebackers as well. But he’s been in the system long enough now and through the off-season program so it’s not confusing to him.”

 

Q: Derrick Johnson’s been working with the ones almost exclusively today. Is that a depth chart change?

 

VERMEIL: “He’s needs the work. He needs the work and obviously he has the ability to be up there. The ones get more reps than the twos, so that’s where he is.”

 

Q: Your assessment of the linebackers?

 

VERMEIL: “They’re doing fine. We’ve only been here a week. I’m pleased with their progress but they haven’t been in a real live scrimmage. We’ll do that against Minnesota.”

 

Q: How is the progress coming with Shawn Barber and Mike Maslowski?

 

VERMEIL: “Barber will be on physically unable to perform starting the season. Medically we know it make take another six weeks into the season before he’s really ready to be turned loose.

 

“Maslowski is questionable, that’s all. His mother went through a by-pass operation so he’s been excused and there right now.”

[Beaumont]

Posted on Mon, Aug. 08, 2005

 

KC LINEBACKER CONTINUES TURNAROUND

 

Mitchell is man in the middle

 

Once maligned linebacker is poised to start for Chiefs

 

By ADAM TEICHER

 

The Kansas City Star

 

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — When it comes to popularity, middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell is nowhere in sight on any list of Chiefs fan favorites.

 

Mitchell has been a major underachiever since joining the Chiefs as their 2003 second-round draft choice. His often faulty instincts and frequently sloppy tackling were symbolic of the team’s lousy defense.

 

That’s why the Chiefs are pulling hard for Mitchell, a key figure at a key position. So the sighs of relief have almost been audible at training camp as the Chiefs watch Mitchell make play after play.

 

He’s sniffing out running plays, picking his way through blockers and often arriving to the backfield in time. On passing plays, he has been disruptive by jumping into throwing lanes.

 

It’s enough to make the Chiefs believe that Mitchell, after a frustrating wait, is finally delivering on his potential.

 

“He may have been slow in his development, but he turned the corner the latter part of last year,” said Lynn Stiles, the Chiefs’ director of football operations. “We all had hopes it would carry over, and it has. Now his confidence level is rising every day.

 

“If he continues to grow and have a good preseason, he’s going to be right where we wanted him to be way back when, when we drafted him. It just takes some guys longer to develop than others. It all has to come together. It can take time, and most of us aren’t patient as it relates to that.”

 

Before rendering a final opinion on Mitchell, the Chiefs want to see him in preseason games, which for them begin with Friday night’s game at Minnesota. Tackling, which is rare at training camp, is an issue.

 

“I’m ready to turn up the physical part of my game,” Mitchell said. “That’s getting to the ball, that’s hitting, that’s putting the guy on the ground.”

 

If Mitchell’s improvement holds up in games, the maddening thoughts for the Chiefs will be these: What took him so long? Why didn’t he develop as a rookie in 2003, when the defense collapsed after Mitchell replaced the injured Mike Maslowski? Why not last season, when a terrible defense ruined a promising season?

 

They can contemplate those questions all they like, but they might not come up with any answers.

 

“It was just my time,” Mitchell said with a shrug. “I’ve been learning, learning about offensive formations and learning about our defense and things like that. I just got more comfortable. When you’re comfortable, you can fly around and make more plays.

 

“I’m more into my game. I think it started at the end of last season. I started coming around then.”

 

Mitchell was a subject of much offseason angst for defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. His initial thought after the Chiefs signed veteran linebacker Kendrell Bell was to put him in the middle and shift Mitchell to the outside, where he would have been one in a crowd competing for a job.

 

The Chiefs decided against that. Yet they sent Rich Scanlon to NFL Europe in hope he would return a better player and challenge Mitchell. They also drafted Boomer Grigsby.

 

There is no competition at middle linebacker, however. Mitchell will be the starter for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against the Jets at Arrowhead Stadium.

 

That was no sure thing during the offseason, when Cunningham and Mitchell had some pointed and occasionally heated conversations.

 

“He takes on challenges really well, and it’s fortunate he does,” said linebacker Scott Fujita, a friend of Mitchell’s. “He got called out. He and Gun had a lot of conversations during the offseason. He’d get ticked off like the rest of us but he channeled that in the right direction. He was determined to get the job done.”

 

Mitchell could use injuries as a crutch. Camp ailments in each of the last year may have impeded his progress.

 

“We talked about it in the offseason, and I told him that I didn’t want to hear it,” Cunningham said. “I didn’t want any excuses. You have to be professional and act like you are a three-year linebacker and that you started for three years and carry it over to the practice field.”

 

Cunningham was further encouraged when Mitchell took charge at a recent practice and told Cunningham to leave the defensive huddle. He also took Cunningham’s advice to start accepting his share of the blame for the Chiefs’ defensive struggles.

 

“I’ve started to realize that comes with being the leader,” Mitchell said. “I’m the middle linebacker. When something goes wrong, people are going to look at you first. It’s just like being the quarterback, only on defense. I know it wasn’t only me, but that’s something I’m willing to accept.

 

“That’s why I love being the middle linebacker. You’re always involved in something. I love the responsibility.”

[Beaumont]

Posted on Tue, Aug. 09, 2005

 

Interior D key for KC

 

Line coach looking for some tough guys

 

By ELIZABETH MERRILL

 

The Kansas City Star

 

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Ryan Sims isn’t talking. He walks off the practice field, dripping from the Wisconsin heat and a quarterback sack. At least three times Monday, someone on the Chiefs’ coaching staff showered Sims with praise. Now Sims needs a shower. And he isn’t saying a thing.

 

“I’ll talk to you all during the season,” Sims said.

 

Bob Karmelowicz is talking. He’s sitting in a comfortable chair Monday in the Rodli Commons, chatting about his defensive line. The Chiefs went shopping in the offseason to fix the defense, but none of the moves involved an interior lineman. Karmelowicz says that’s OK, because they spent two high draft picks on line help in the last four years.

 

Remember the draft picks? Junior Siavii was a second-rounder in 2004. He’s missed most of camp because of tendinitis in both knees. Sims was the No. 6 overall pick in 2002. After three long years, he’s making progress.

 

In a three-play sequence Monday, Sims shed his blocker and rushed the quarterback, recorded a sack, then jawed at offensive lineman John Welbourn before the potential scuffle was quickly broken up.

 

Karmelowicz says Sims is maturing. Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters says Sims has been explosive.

 

“But the thing about Ryan and everybody else is that this is training camp, and it’s early,” Waters said. “This is a long season, and we need guys to be consistent. I think Ryan realizes that as well as the other guys on defense.”

 

Sims started on a not-so-good note in 2002, when he was a training-camp holdout and then dislocated his left elbow. He played only six games that season. Sims followed with his best season in 2003, recording 83 tackles and three sacks. He had just 30 tackles and two sacks last season.

 

Football, Karmelowicz says, was always important to Sims. But now it’s a profession and not a fantasy. Sims spent extra time in the offseason working on his weaknesses. He did it, apparently, with no special prompting from the coaching staff.

 

“I think Ryan’s finally figured out that it’s nice to be a high draft pick, it’s nice to have a lot of money,” Karmelowicz said. “But what are you really doing? This is your profession, this is what defines you as a person professionally.

 

“Ryan, to a certain degree, has matured some since the beginning. And people are always going to be overcritical of someone who makes a lot of money who’s not an instant fabulous person. But like any kind of profession or any kind of growth process, it takes time. It’s just the more money you get, the less patience they have.”

 

The Chiefs say it takes three years for the average rookie defensive lineman to figure things out. And then there are some exceptions. Arrion Dixon, a rookie free agent, has been impressive enough in camp that he’s had some spot action with the No. 1 defense.

 

Dixon doesn’t completely know what he’s doing, but he’s exhibited the one quality that Karmelowicz looks for the most in rookies: toughness. Rookies receive more blows than they give in training camp, and Dixon hasn’t shied away, Karmelowicz says.

 

Neither has third-year tackle Montique Sharpe. Both have moved ahead of Siavii, who watched workouts again Monday.

 

“It’s a concern of mine,” Karmelowicz said. “You only have a short window. Junior is a young guy who hasn’t really been tested much. He was hurt a lot his rookie year. For him to miss again … sure, it gets to be a concern. Because there are a couple of young guys who are a year younger than him who haven’t missed and are really ahead of him right now.”

 

Starting tackle Lional Dalton says he’s rooting for Dixon because Dalton, too, was once a rookie free agent. When the Chiefs didn’t acquire any interior linemen, Dalton took it as a sign that they were doing OK. But there is always room for improvement.

 

Karmelowicz is making subtle technique changes, preaching for them to use their helmets more on tackles.

 

“We need tough guys,” Karmelowicz said. “We encourage dysfunctional behavior. We were 7-9 last year, right? So nobody was tough enough.”

[spain]

Any news on Maslowski?

[crispirons]

Any news on Maslowski?

 

918449[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

get over it espana. grab your fork, stick it in. twist and shout.

[Los Gigantes]

get over it espana.  grab your fork, stick it in.  twist and shout.

 

919454[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

Mas to Spain - "Fork me baby one more time!"

[spain]

get over it espana.  grab your fork, stick it in.  twist and shout.

 

919454[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

Mas to Spain - "Fork me baby one more time!"

 

919473[/snapback]

 

 

 

If I was 10 years younger I would take a flame thrower to this place!

[spain]

How is Kendrell Bell looking so far?

[Beaumont]

They have Bell practicing 3/4 speed and Gunther wants to turn him loose ... I am under the impression they are not worried about Bell.

 

Maz is done. Kaput. No practice, no playing, nothing ... simply jogging off by himself to the side ...

 

Cut city.

[spain]

They have Bell practicing 3/4 speed and Gunther wants to turn him loose ... I am under the impression they are not worried about Bell.

 

Maz is done.  Kaput.  No practice, no playing, nothing ... simply jogging off by himself to the side ...

 

Cut city.

 

922340[/snapback]

 

 

 

So who are the starting LB's for the Chiefs? Bell, DJ, and who?

[Los Gigantes]

So who are the starting LB's for the Chiefs?  Bell, DJ, and who?

 

922538[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

kawika mitchell.

[Beaumont]

Actually right now DJ, Mitchell Fox. When Bell gets back to health Fox goes to the bench and becomes the no. 1 backup LB.

[Beaumont]

Posted on Mon, Aug. 15, 2005

 

Allen demoted from first-team defense

 

By ADAM TEICHER

 

The Kansas City Star

 

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Jared Allen, who led the Chiefs in sacks and was a bright spot last season for an otherwise dismal defense, has lost his starting job, at least temporarily.

 

Jimmy Wilkerson, a little-used reserve the past two seasons, took Allen’s spot at starting right end at practice this morning. Allen worked with the second team.

 

“Jimmy Wilkerson has been doing everything right,’’ coach Dick Vermeil said. “Sometimes when guys are doing everything right, sometimes not better but everything on every snap consistently right, you give them a little reward.’’

 

Asked whether Wilkerson would start in Saturday night’s exhibition game against Arizona at Arrowhead Stadium, Vermeil said, “He might. He deserves a reward.’’

 

But the move appears to be aimed more at Allen than Wilkerson. The Chiefs were unhappy with the way Allen played in last week’s exhibition opener at Minnesota.

 

He missed a tackle against Minnesota’s Mewelde Moore, allowing the running back to go for 50 yards. Allen also blew his assignment on the play, which the Chiefs view as an equal or bigger crime.

 

“It was a breakdown in discipline,’’ Vermeil said. “You have to do just what you’re supposed to do. Someone goes out and tries to make a bigger play out of it and he winds up breaking the discipline of the defense.’’

[Beaumont]

Posted on Wed, Aug. 17, 2005

Click here to find out more!

 

COUNTDOWN TO SEASON OPENER: 25 DAYS

 

CHIEFS AT CAMP: Allen getting the message

 

Day 20 in River Falls, Wis.

 

The Kansas City Star

 

Jared Allen appears to have heard the message sent by the Chiefs with his recent demotion.

 

Allen made his presence felt on several plays during the morning practice. He tossed running back McKenzi Smith to the ground on one running play, covered a lot of ground to push Smith out of bounds on another and would have had a sack of quarterback James Kilian had practice rules allowed for full contact.

 

Allen led the Chiefs last season as a rookie with nine sacks. He was demoted from his starting defensive-end spot when the Chiefs were unhappy with his play in last week's preseason opener in Minnesota.

 

“We know what he can do,'' coach Dick Vermeil said. “We've just got to get him to do it all the time on our terms within our scheme. He's a fine football player. He's already proved that.

 

“I would expect him to be a little upset. But you're evaluated every practice on every snap. I think Gunther (Cunningham) wanted to get his attention to the details. He will be fine, believe me.''

 

Allen's replacement, Jimmy Wilkerson, also had a would-be sack of Damon Huard.

 

A BATTLE WITH GUN

 

In a bizarre practice-field occurrence, defensive coordinator Cunningham and middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell engaged in a loud, obscenity filled, in-your-face shouting match early in the afternoon practice.

 

Cunningham was mad Mitchell didn't make a play, and Mitchell gave as good as he got in the exchange. The episode ended when Cunningham told Mitchell to get out of the huddle. He returned one snap later.

 

Cunningham relishes such exchanges. While Vermeil's coaching style is much different, he said he appreciates what Cunningham is trying to accomplish.

 

‘‘He's challenging him,'' Vermeil said. “It will bring the best out of him.''

[Beaumont]

Posted on Fri, Aug. 19, 2005

 

COUNTDOWN TO SEASON OPENER: 23 DAYS

 

CHIEFS AT CAMP

 

Day 22 in River Falls, Wis.

 

Bell’s debut put off a week

 

Kendrell Bell’s Chiefs debut probably will come next weekend against the Seahawks.

 

Coach Dick Vermeil said Thursday that Bell, a hard-hitting linebacker acquired from Pittsburgh in the offseason, is getting closer to contact but won’t see action in Saturday’s preseason game against Arizona.

 

“Next week at this time, Kendrell should be getting ready to play a few snaps,” Vermeil said as the Chiefs wrapped up their final run of two-a-days in River Falls.

 

Bell, who missed much of last season with a groin injury, had shoulder problems during the Chiefs’ offseason workouts. Though Bell has been practicing in camp, Vermeil has held him out from contact as a precautionary measure.

 

Linebacker Keyaron Fox also will miss Saturday, Vermeil said. Fox, the top backup on the right and left sides, has been out with a hamstring injury.

 

Though they haven’t been at full strength, Vermeil said he ends camp feeling confident in the defense’s improvement.

 

“They’re ahead of where they were last year,” he said. “It ain’t even close. And all I have to do is look at the takeaways, the interceptions they’ve had. We’re way ahead, and I think the temperament of the defense, the discipline within the scheme, the fundamentals within the scheme, we’re better there.”

[Beaumont]

Chiefs | Maslowski Released

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 14:10:31 -0700

 

The Kansas City Chiefs have announced the release of LB Mike Maslowski (knee).

[spain]

Chiefs | Maslowski Released

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 14:10:31 -0700

 

The Kansas City Chiefs have announced the release of LB Mike Maslowski (knee).

 

944594[/snapback]

 

 

 

[Czarina]

Any word on the rookie Grigsby? Is he worth a developmental squad slot?