Kansas City Chiefs LB Andy Studebaker and quite a few other players conducted day two of their three-day player-only workouts this afternoon. Following the workout, Studebaker joined Nick Wright of 610 Sports to talk about what went down.
First things first though. Studebaker and several other Chiefs players will be down at Firehouse Subs on the Plaza in Kansas City tomorrow from 12:30-1:30 signing autographs and raising money for the tornado relief efforts in Joplin. Firehouse Subs is located at 4628 JC Nichols Pkwy., Kansas City, MO. (If you follow Studebaker on Twitter, @studie32, you know he goes to Firehouse Subs quite a bit.) Their goal is to raise money for the fire department.
Second, Studebaker told Wright more about the workouts.
"Obviously because we haven't been able to be in contact with coaches and the facility for the last several months, talk like this has been going on. Are we going to get together? What can we do as a team to build on what we did last year? We started some good things last year, we laid the foundation of what we want the organization to look like and the direction we'd like to take it, and getting together in the offseason is an essential part of our development.
"Matt was really the head of this thing, and lead the charge. He said we're going to get together this week and we'd like to get as many guys as we can. Obviously it's a sacrifice for guys from from all over the country, and get flights and hotels.
"If we're going to build on where we were, let's get together and do some of the basic things. Get in the huddle, get the balls thrown around, communicate on defense, and things like that. And just get the lingo back going again and that's a really positive thing going on right now."
Studebaker says they're not practicing in full equipment which actually makes it safer since the tone comes down a little bit. He says he was encouraged by not only the number of guys that showed up but in the shape that they showed up in.
And how many players showed up? "Enough to run two sides of the ball," Studebaker said, "so I don't know exactly how many but we had a full offense and a full defense plus plenty of extras." He said Wright's report of 90 percent attendance was pretty accurate.
He says they also had a training staff there plus medical folks, who can help the players if something goes wrong, or if they need their ankles taped or treatment after practice.
"A lot of guys showed up," Studebaker said. "Not everyone was able to make it, but a lot of guys showed up. I'm impressed with not just the veterans but some of these rookies showing up and they're learning quick. It's very basic stuff at this point but it's important for these guys to get into the mix and hang around the team and get a few plays in over the next three days. I think that's really important."
I'm sure 610Sports.com will have the audio so keep an eye out for that as Studebaker had quite a bit to say.