Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 6/10

What We Learned From Thursday's Media Availability from Chiefs.com

Terez Paylor (Kansas City Star): What do you think about Chris Jones so far?

HOWARD: "He's definitely coming along. I think this scheme definitely fits him. He's able to get pressure on the quarterback, he's beating guys. And that's going to translate, I feel like, once we put on pads. He's definitely staying after practice working with the coaches, working with us. He's getting better."

Herbie Teope (Topeka Capital-Journal): Did you see that Mike DeVito said he knew you were on the verge of a breakout season after he saw some good things out of you? What does it do for you when you see a guy like that say something about you?

HOWARD: "I'm definitely honored that he even puts me in that category and talks about me that way. Like I said, I learned from him, it wasn't that I was trying to take his job. I went to him and asked him pointers and stuff he was able to help me with, and it was able to help me on the field."

Aaron Murray Hosted Two Teammates in Georgia This Offseason from Chiefs.com

They were joined by second-year tight end Ross Travis, who spent last year on the Chiefs practice squad.

"I knew I wanted to be around a quarterback," Travis, who is working through a transition of playing college basketball at Penn State to now an NFL tight end, said of the decision to move down to Georgia with Murray and Morse in the offseason. "My biggest thing was taking that time to learn some things about the offense."

It was a full house, and the 6-foot-7 Travis was relegated to the bottom level.

"They had me sleeping in the basement," Travis jokingly said. "I was on the couch the whole time I was down there, but hey, that's what I had to sacrifice."

Chiefs.com Photo Gallery: Behind The Scenes Of Chiefs Production Day

Bulked-up this year, Chiefs center Mitch Morse ready to take the next step from The Kansas City Star

During film review following that game, Morse remembers, offensive line coach Andy Heck said something that stuck with him.

"Coach (Heck) was so patient with me, and always gave me constructive criticism," Morse said. "But on one (play) — and Geno Atkins, who is such a monster, bulled me — Coach goes, ‘Man, Mitch, maybe you should drink a milkshake; you wouldn't have gotten bulled right there.' Because I had good technique and everything, and he just bulled me.

"It was the truth."

Notebook: Minor scuffle breaks out on Day 9 of Chiefs OTAs from Chiefs Digest

The two players were observed in a heated exchange on the right side of the line of scrimmage at the end of a play before teammates quickly stepped in to separate them.

So, what triggered the minor fracas between the 6-5, 321-pound Duvernay-Tardif and the 6-3, 301-pound Howard?

"I'm a competitive person," Howard said. "After a while, like, let somebody know after they test you, you got to let them know."

Duvernay-Tardif was not available for comment after the workout, but never fear because there are apparently no hard feelings.

"It's a part of the game, though," Howard said. "At the end of the day, he's my teammate, man, so it's left on the field."

Alex Smith immediately saw emphasis on improving two-minute drill from ESPN

Alex Smith had barely returned to team headquarters in April after the long offseason break when he was struck by the changes to the Kansas City Chiefs' playbook. Coach Andy Reid and new offensive coordinators Matt Nagy and Brad Childress had overhauled the two-minute section.

"We came back and the coaches had already been on it," the Chiefs quarterback said. "I think it was an area of focus for them.

"Those guys really put a ton of effort in to scaling all of that back."

What a son: Chiefs receiver Albert Wilson was happy to buy his mother a house from The Kansas City Star

"Just to be able to get that off (my mom's) back, to be able to come to a nice place and relax, is a blessing," said Wilson, who added he was very close to tears at the time. "I stumbled over my words to tell her that it was hers."

Wilson, who moved his move from Fort Pierce, Fla., to Port St. Lucie, Fla., hasn't bought a house for himself yet — he lives in an apartment in Kansas City — but getting his mom squared away was a priority.

"It was something he's been working on since my rookie year," said Wilson, who is entering his third season in the NFL. "Just to move them out of the neighborhood they were in, it's something that I always dreamed of ... it's something every kid at this stage wants to do for their parents.

"My mom was my first goal — I'm good where I'm at now."

Chiefs giving fourth-year pro Marcus Cooper a hard look at safety from Chiefs Digest

"I played a little bit in high school," Cooper said on the last time he played safety. "It's been a while, but I've been here long enough. So, I learned defenses and stuff like that."

The 6-2, 192-pound Cooper is in the middle of a position makeover since playing cornerback the past three seasons.

While he has lined up at cornerback and safety in OTAs, the questions remains -€” is he a safety or a cornerback?

"I'd tell you it's kind of the same kind of thing with (defensive back Ron) Parker, he can do both," coach Andy Reid said. "He's had some good snaps for us here the last few days at corner, he's had some good snaps at safety, too."

Chiefs stocked with former basketball players at tight end from ESPN

Quarterback Alex Smith said he could tell immediately that Kansas City Chiefs tight ends Travis Kelce, Demetrius Harris and Ross Travis have basketball backgrounds. It had nothing to do with their respective heights, Kelce at 6-foot-5 and the others at 6-7.

It had everything to do with the way they go after the ball when a pass is headed their way.

Baylor's Ryan Parker, Signal Mountain's McKenzie Ethridge named best of the Best of Preps from The Chattanooga Times Free Press

As the best of the Best of Preps athletes honored at Thursday night's annual awards banquet at the Chattanooga Convention Center, Ryan Parker and McKenzie Ethridge displayed a resolve that connected them with the Times Free Press event's featured speaker.

Former University of Tennessee and current Kansas City Chiefs star Eric Berry's message was about perseverance and never settling for anything but one's best. The cancer survivor and 2015 NFL comeback player of the year also said a key to his personal and professional success is having a sense of who he is.

AFC West Update: Von Miller Searching For Deal, Lockdown Cornerback Injured In Off-Field Incident from Raiders.com

Hill was clocked running a 4.24 40-yard dash as he trained for the NFL Draft, and you can teach many things on the football field, but you can't teach speed.

Coaches and players alike have taken notice of the rookie, so he'll be an interesting player to keep an eye on the rest of this offseason.

One Atlanta player makes list of world's 100 highest paid athletes from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green ranked 30th at $33.3 million, Denver Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas 73rd at $23.4 million and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston 89th at $21.8 million. Green and Houston played at Georgia and Thomas at Georgia Tech. All three signed contract extensions last year with huge bonuses.

2016 CFOs of the Year discuss evolution of their role [PHOTOS] from The Kansas City Business Journal

The CFO now is on the front lines of IT and HR decisions, they said, and they are even moving into new frontiers, such as data analysis. Dan Crumb of the Kansas City Chiefs has the additional role of helping to judge the cheerleaders' competition.

Kansas City Chiefs Mount Rushmore from Football Insiders

The Kansas City Chiefs are a very well respected organization for various of reasons. When it comes to class, there isn't too many franchises who display it better than the Chiefs.

Although the Chiefs only have one lone Super Bowl title, which came in 1970, there's been a plethora of great players to rock the red and gold over the years.

However, today we're focusing on the Chiefs "Mount Rushmore," so there's only room for four guys.

Let's take a look at who they are.

Rich Desrosiers: Retaining editorial independence key to Repository's partnership with Hall of Fame from The Canton Repository

She answered. With a mom and six sisters, every phone call was for her.

Except this one.

"It's for you. Lamar Hunt?" she said, her voice and facial expression indicating that for all she knew, Mr. Hunt was our landlord and not one of the most important figures in pro football.

It was my first brush with an NFL legend as a young sports reporter at The Repository. Summer days at the paper meant researching Hall of Fame enshrinees for the many biographies published each year, and Mr. Hunt was calling to talk about his Kansas City Chiefs and linebacker Willie Lanier.

Such was the relationship between the newspaper and the Hall that Rep reporters could spend hours upon hours in the museum's library poring over documents, media guides, recordings and other memorabilia to learn everything about each player or coach.

UConn's Bob Diaco Says There's No Time Off; Likes What He Sees From His Players from The Hartford Courant

Defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Vincent Brown, as well as former UConn linebacker John Dorsey were recently named among the 170 to the 2017 College Football Hall of Fame ballot.

"It's so cool," Diaco said. "I can't imagine there's another football staff in the country who has two potential College Football Hall of Fame members. It's an awesome thing. The accolades for UConn and our national prominence just keep going on and on and on. Think about the accomplishments of the men's and women's basketball teams, the football bowl, and then the baseball NCAA Tournament. The future is bright."

Wiedmer: Eric Berry shoots past the sky at Best of Preps from The Chattanooga Times Free Press

The tough stuff, the emotional stuff, the stuff that everyone in the Best of Preps crowd of 1,300 people knew they'd hear former Tennessee football star Eric Berry talk about was all on display Thursday night at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Regarding his recovery from cancer to become last season's National Football League comeback player of the year, the four-time All-Pro defensive back of the Kansas City Chiefs said, "When you're healthy, it's easy to take for granted something as simple as getting out of bed or feeling the sun against your skin. But you shouldn't, because it can be taken from you in an instant."

Breakout players to get familiar with ahead of the 2016 season from Sports Illustrated

Rod Streater, WR, Chiefs

Streater already enjoyed one breakout season, producing team highs of 60 catches for 888 yards with the Raiders in 2013. He is a candidate again because he spent 2014 on injured reserve and all but fell off the face of the earth last season.

Now, after jumping from one AFC West squad to another, he has a shot at a resurgence. Streater said this week from OTAs that he is seeing ample time in the slot, which is rather unusual for a guy his size: "I feel like I can beat nickels. It's a mismatch. I'm 6' 3", guys probably won't think I can get open like I can. However, I can fight in and where coach wants to put me that's where I'm going to make plays."