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The Kansas City Chiefs continue their voluntary mini-camp that started yesterday and continues through Sunday. Todd Haley is taking advantage of an offseason rule that grants new head coaches an extra three day mini-camp.
Here is a list of the Chiefs offseason schedule. Here is Kent Babb's Twitter page. He's doing an excellent job of keeping us updated.
Tony Gonzalez and Brian Waters did not attend the morning practice
We haven't learned if the two were even in the building but they were nowhere to be seen in the morning practice.
Tony Gonzalez works out on his own every offseason so this isn't troubling to me. It could be a sign that something is brewing but he's set a precedent of working out on his own in previous years and as of last week I know he hadn't even been to the complex this offseason. According to info we've scrounged up, this isn't unusual for Gonzalez. So we can't look too much into his absence at this point.
Brian Waters' absence is a bit troubling. He is (from what I've heard) always in attendance at the offseason conditioning sessions, even the voluntary ones. He has a tiff with management but we're not really sure where that stands because it hasn't been addressed since Jason Whitlock broke the news that Waters wants out of Kansas City on the night of free agency (February 27th).
Sometimes, not attending these sessions is a way of telling management that they're unhappy with something. This is likely the case with Waters. He's not a fringe roster guy so it's not like he needs to be there to state his case to make the team (like 90% of the other players on the team).
[Ed. Note: Bob Gretz reports Mike Vrabel wasn't seen either)
Wade Smith took Waters' place at guard
If the rumors out there that the Buffalo Bills have offered a 3rd and a 5th round pick for Waters are true (complete rumors at this point...no reason to believe that's true) then I better hope the Chiefs can draft a ready-to-play-from-day-one replacement for Waters because I don't see the Wade Smith experiment being a long or short term solution.
Tamba Hali working out with the linebackers
Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star speculated (or Twittered) that this is another sign that the Chiefs will move him off the defensive line if and when they employ the 3-4 defense.
We first heard that Hali would be working out with the linebackers last week so this is just a confirmation of that.
Haley knows about the absences
In a session with the media yesterday, Haley said the Chiefs again had 60+ of the 67 roster players attend the sessions. He also said he had heard from the absentee players and was satisfied with their reasons for missing.
"Yeah, again this is all voluntary but the guys have been very good about letting me know when there’s an issue or something is up. I feel good about all that."
He could be giving us some lip service to keep the rumor mill churning or we could be blowing the Gonzalez and Waters' absences completely out of proportion.
Larry Johnson attended today's practice
And he was there yesterday. We assume he'll be there tomorrow. Larry knows what he's gotta do to get paid.
UPDATE: Via Bob Gretz, the following players were didn't practice or were limited - QB Brodie Croyle, RB Kolby Smith, CB Maurice Leggett, DL Alfonso Boone, DT Glenn Dorsey, DE Turk McBride and DT T.J. Turner.
Gretz also reports that Turk McBride and Andy Studebaker worked with the linebackers.