Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley met the media on Thanksgiving Day and it's no surprise the topic of conversation was Kyle Orton, who is expected to arrive in Kansas City today. Haley has talked to him and all is good on him showing up today (Friday).
Some highlights from Haley's presser (video via KCChiefs.com): 1.) Tyler Palko is expected to start on Sunday night against Pittsburgh. 2.) Orton could know enough of the offense to come in on Sunday in a backup situation. 3.) The Chiefs will play the quarterback that gives them the best chance to win.
Will we see Orton at all on Sunday night? "I don't know," Haley said. "I would say Tyler's the starter and Kyle, like I said, will come in....we are ahead of the game in trying to get him up to speed offensively, terminology, and all those things. I wouldn't think he'd be terribly in a bad position to have a chance to be out there but like I said it would be in a depth situation, any scenario that I see."
Is this move a way of saying the Chiefs are still alive in the playoff race? "I don't think it's a way of saying it," Haley explained. "I think that it's where we are. We are as an organization, as a coaching staff and as team trying to be in this thing until the end and beyond."
Why make the Orton move? "The situation that we are in and the one we were in yesterday when we made the final decision to go this direction was I think it was just a smart football decision for us, taking money and those things out of the equation," Haley said. "We're planning on playing good football, we really are. I just think it would not be a real good decision to not give ourselves some depth, especially with an experience guy that has won a bunch of games. That's where we are right now."