FanPost

Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp Coverage: Family Fun Day

From the FanPosts. -Chris

Last Friday night my boss asked me to work "4 or 5 hours". I got to work about 11 pm and did not leave the plant until 9:30 am. I hustled home, jumped in the shower, ate a little breakfast and my wife and I shot up the road to St Joe. We missed the autograph session but got there just in time for the practice.

By the time I got home, I was so tired I did not get anything posted. I spent yesterday getting ready for another 12 hour shift last night, sooo.....no post then either. I thought about not posting anything but haven't seen any posts other than Joel's.

If some of this is redundant, I apologize for that as well as my tardiness. Without further adieu, here are a few practice items from my perspective.

Injuries:

It dawned on me Saturday that I have not seen Moeaki make a cut. I visited camp the first two days and then again on Saturday. It looks like he can sprint with no noticeable problems but I have only seen him run a straight line. Perhaps I missed it, but I am certain he has not made a cut while I watched.

Glenn Dorsey was working on lateral motion. The drill was a set of simple shuffle steps very, very slowly to his left and back to his right. Of course by now most of you have heard he is wearing a brace on his left knee.

The most curious case was Jonathan Baldwin. The report is a hamstring injury. Baldwin was sitting on the bike and working his arms but was not pedaling. When the conditioning coach worked with him individually, it was mostly stretching and they were not stretching his hammy. It looked more like groin work to me. First he was on his back and they pulled his hips as high as he could get them. Then, he was on all fours. The best way to describe it would be to remember John Randle's "dog peeing" sack celebration a couple of years ago. First the right leg, then the left. I'm not sure how that particular move works the hamstring if that is what Baldwin injured.

Barry Richardson was suited up of course, and was a full participant.

Tamba Hali was not only a participant but sprinted out of the stadium and up the hill after practice. It was impressive to see a man his size moving up that long, steep incline at that speed. Any of you that have been to camp know which hill I'm talking about. Nothing wrong with Tamba, I'm sure!

On wide receivers:

The Chief's have so many Wes Welker sized wide outs in camp it looks as if they are trying to find his twin. Williams, Paul, Manno and Marshausen all appear to have Welker's body type.

Paul is the stockiest of the group and runs with a shorter almost bowlegged stride that is a whole lot faster than it appears.

I noticed Manno the least but that means very little

My very first impression of Markshausen was disbelief he was undrafted. He has an alley cat's quickness, speed to burn and nice soft hands. When the WRs and DBs started drilling one on one the DBs were giving a 5 yard cushion. Markshausen's routes were so crisp,quick and clean no one could get to him before the ball got there. I was getting really excited until Jalil Brown came up and pressed him. Suddenly it all made sense. He went from cat to looking like a mouse on a glue board. Brown locked him up and he absolutely could not get any seperation. What a pity! Maybe with a year or two on the practice squad....

Jeremy Horne had back to back TDs in the final segement of practice (11 on 11) near the goal line with the 2's. Horne has looked good when I watched him.

I wonder what Cassel's numbers would have looked like last year if Urban had not been lost for the season. He impressed me last year in camp and shows no signs of rust this year. He has great size, good speed and fantastic hands. He's also a "Haley guy." He won't just make the team, he is going to play significant snaps this year. I'm looking forward to seeing it too.

Flowers was covering Bowe and I do not remember Bowe not catching his passes during that particular drill. Flowers was on him tight but it was not enough.

The Trenches:

The lines worked on pass protection/pass rushing during one segement. Two things really stood out. First, Houston flat whipped Barry Richardson. Houston's first rep was a speed rush to the outside. He got his shoulder down and got around Richardson quickly enough that during a game it would have been at least a pressure if not a sack. Richardson was ready for the speed move on their second rep. The problem was Houston went with an outside-in move. Houston got free so quickly that Barry had to take a hop step to keep from falling down. No doubt that one would have resulted in a full speed crush of a sack.

The second thing that really struck me was how well Ryan Lilja handled Wallace Gillberry. Gillberry got some push but not enough to do damage.

Speaking of Gillberry, much has been said of his new body. Last year I sad he did not look like an NFL defensive lineman until he put the pads on. His shoulders looked narrow, his legs too long for his body and he was a little paunchy. This year I would have to say Wallace still does not look like an NFL defensive lineman. Instead, he looks like an outside linebacker. His shoulders are considerably wider and the belly is almost completely gone. The extra upper body bulk has "proportionalized" (can not think of a better real word) his body. The change is extremely noticeable.

Allen Bailey had a nice spin move.

If they were not wearing numbers on their jerseys you would not be able to tell Jerrel Powe and Amon Gordon apart. They have the exact same body type.

Kelly Gregg's motor shows up even in practice. He nearly sprints from drill to drill. He also went straight to working with the 1's. Brandon Siler did not.

Gotta do at least a little on the Backs:

Shane Bannon got a carry in the first whole team segment of practice. KC may be a little different than Yale.

I believe Sabby Piscatelli was wearing number 49. The dude is fast for his size. But, if 49 is his number, he took an angle on Charles that would have made him look silly in a game. He went sailing full bore just behind Charles at such a steep angle all Jamaal would have needed to do was open up the jets a little and Piscatelli would have missed him clean.

Javier Arenas was the first person to receive punts but moved quickly over to the coverage side after one or two catches. McCluster was number two and Urban was third.

My quote of the day is not a quote this time, but a look. I mentioned last time I have a ball that I am trying to have signed by all four of KC's starting secondary. I am lacking only Carr. I told my wife it might be nice to get Emmitt Thomas to sign it as well as sort of a past guiding the future type thing. After practice we were standing along the fence and Emmitt came over and got into a golf cart about ten feet away. I said to my wife, "There's Emmitt," I did not say it that loud but he must have heard me. He looked at me with a soft smile and tired eyes. He did not say a word but it looked as though he was thinking, "l'll do it if he asks, but man, I'm hot, I'm worn out, and I hope he doesn't ask." So, I didn't. Maybe another day.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.