And the Kansas City Chiefs 2009 rookie mini-camp is over. As Todd Haley says, the camp participants are on their way to airport now and most should be back for the off season training activities. The ones that do return will get back to KC by May 18th for the start of OTAs with the veterans.
Here are some highlights from the mothership of Haley's interview:
On when decisions will be made on contracts for the try-out guys...
“We’re discussing all those try-out guys today and hope to make a decision by tomorrow.”
On the Chiefs' QB situation...
“As it stands, yeah. (Brodie) Croyle is the wildcard right now just on when we’re going to get him back (from injury).
“We’re hoping that he’ll be ready before camp.”
On rookie CB Donald Washington...
“Again, he was in the same boat with all the guys. I think he looks the part and seemed to pick up what we were teaching him and tried to do it the way we were coaching it. I was encouraged by Donald. He’s one of the late arrivals (can’t report until after he officially graduates from Ohio State in June) guys so what we stressed to him was that he’s got a big task ahead of him to not get too far behind. That’s a big issue.”
On coaching rookies with diverse coaching backgrounds...
“I think you just spell it out to them pretty clearly and what I’m preaching is there is not going to be a lot of gray area around here. We’re going to tell them what we want done and how we want it done. Then we hold them accountable to that. That’s part of coaching. You get players, whether they’re free agents, draft picks, or from other teams, through trades, and you have to assimilate those guys into how you want things done on a full-time basis.”
On having to slow down practices because of numbers...
“Like I said, it’s frustrating for me personally because you have a vision for how you want to practice and the pace at which you practice. We’re going to be a fast-paced group that gets out there and practices hard and fast and efficiently. Again, we only had 34 guys and we only had three receivers in this camp, so if we were in any multiple receiver groups those guys were going every route and they weren’t in the condition that they had to be to be able to function. It’s frustrating because you want to show these new guys how you’re going to do it and what’s expected of them. So we just had to be clear them that they had to adjust this time.”
The full transcript is at the mothership.