Reporters on Tuesday talked with NFL Hall of Famer and Kansas City Chiefs secondary coach Emmitt Thomas.
He's gotta have one of the better jobs on the coaching staff because he's working with arguably the most talented position group on the team. He's got veteran, near-elite talent in Brandon Flowers, young talent in Eric Berry and Javier Arenas as well as developing talent like Brandon Carr.
"They're progressing real well but have a lot of work ahead of them," Thomas said. "We haven't played the other colored jerseys yet but for right now they're working real good."
We'll go blow-by-blow on what he thinks of some of the key players in the Chiefs secondary.
On Eric Berry, he was asked what, specifically, does he see in him that could make him special. "The love of the game. The quickness, speed and toughness. But, like I said, we still got a lot work to do. He's young but we still have to try to get better."
On Javier Arenas, he said, "Right now he's working a lot at the star position and that corner also. He's working. All these young guys, they're working hard, willing to work and they're smart but they're rookies so we have to put them on the playing field against the other teams and see how they go but for right now we're very happy with them."
On Brandon Flowers, he said, "Brandon is our guy. Right now he's the veteran of the corners really and he's played well in the past and I don't see why he shouldn't play well in the future. He's working well right now and I think all will jell as the time goes on."
As far as how much each will play early on, Thomas said that's not his call.
"I think the head coach and the defensive coordinator are going to make that decision," he said. "We're just going to teach them the technique and get them ready to play as quickly as we can and then they'll make that call."
Overall, you could tell Thomas was excited about the players because he knows they're talented but seemed to temper his excitement a bit in an effort to stick to the company line that they've all got a lot of work to do. Early results on the field are showing that Flowers and Berry in particular will be leaders of the defense.