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On Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs redefined "game-time decision." The inactives for the game came out around 10:30 a.m. (Arrowhead time) and Matt Cassel's name wasn't on there which meant he would, at the very least, be available to play.
But...no one knew whether he would start and actually play. Reports from pregame said Cassel wasn't warming up like a guy that was going to play prompting speculation that he could be active as the backup to Brodie Croyle.
"I didn't know where my conditioning was at just because I wasn't able to run at all during the course of the week," Cassel said after the game (video via KCChiefs.com) suggesting his pregame warmups were more about preserving himself for the game.
Cassel did start less and it came than two weeks after undergoing an appendectomy. Frankly, it was hard to tell if he was limited at all during the game. "I felt 100 percent otherwise I wouldn't have been out there," Cassel said afterward.
A reporter followed that up with: "Really?" I'm on the reporter's side -- it's hard to see how Cassel felt 100 percent after that game but I admire that he simply sweeps it under the rug ignoring the appendix excuse.
"My family knows I wouldn't put myself in jeopardy but at the same time know I'm a competitor and want to be out there," Cassel said. "They just gave me their blessings and said go get 'em."
Cassel's stats were truly average -- 15-of-29 for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception -- but as we've been saying his impact in this game can't be measured solely by sacks.
"I'm an emotional guy," he said. "I like to have fun. I like to enjoy it. As I was telling the guys before the game, we have to embrace the opportunity because we don't have many more left and have fun out there when we get this opportunity because not many people get to do it."