Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 8/18

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

CHIEFS OL COACH ANDY HECK

Q: You guys were asking about Laurent Duvernay-Tardif's commitment to football, what did he say that indicated to you that he was really committed football?

HECK: "He talked about the amount of work that goes into his studies -€” in terms of his med school -€” his preparation for his next career after football. How much work to make that a reality, but at the same time, playing at a high level of football. So he said he has great focus, drive and intensity to get that work done -€” if anything shows his dedication to get that work done. He's such a believable, earnest guy and that rang true."

Q: More on Larry Duvernay-Tardif.

HECK: "Certainly. When you don't know the young man that is the question you ask. And that's the one question you have to ask in your own mind because there's no exact way to go about doing it. We had a good feel about what Larry [Duvernay-Tardif] is all about and he's been nothing but proving us right."

Chiefs Wednesday Injury Updates: Bray, Charles, Maclin, Mauga, Moses and West from Chiefs.com

RB Jamaal Charles continued to progress. After just coming down to the field to do individual work Tuesday morning, Charles participated in group install work as well on Wednesday.

"We'll keep feeding him more of practice until we can get him back into where he's ready to play in the game," head athletic trainer Rick Burholder said Tuesday.

Jeremy Maclin and Cairo Santos Lip Sync in League-Wide Commercial from Chiefs.com

The NFL debuted a lip syncing a rendition of Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" in their new "Football Is Family" video during Saturday's telecast.

The video captures the coming together of NFL players, coaches, broadcasters, fans and even owners to celebrate the return of the long-awaited football season.

The warm commercial includes spots from Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and kickerCairo Santos lip-syncing to the 1985 classic.

Chiefs training camp report, Aug. 17: Alex Smith is on point while D.J. and Marcus Peters shine from The Kansas City Star

Practices like this are geared toward the offense, and quarterback Alex Smith performed as expected, completing 18 of 20 passes, with the only misfires against the No. 2 defense being a too-long deep throw to Rod Streater and a pass over the middle that was knocked away near the goal line by Derrick Johnson. ....

The same cannot be said for Nick Foles, who had to face the No. 1 defense. His first throw was almost intercepted — and it probably should have been — while his next two throws were intercepted by Marcus Peters. Foles was also intercepted by Johnson on a short pass over the middle. Not a great day after Foles ripped it up Tuesday.

The annual change of emphasis has started at Chiefs' camp from ESPN

Those with a discerning eye could detect the change in focus this week at Kansas City Chiefs' training camp. Practice sessions have been less competitive. Players who are unlikely to make the team are getting less work in the respective offensive or defensive scheme.

That means the Chiefs have started their annual shift in emphasis from evaluating players to getting the players likely to make the roster ready for the start of the regular season.

Chiefs gain $4 million in cap room with Rod Streater contract adjustment from The Kansas City Star

The renegotiation created cap room because Streater's incentives — which were for things like receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions and total $4 million — were restructured to go from being likely-to-be-earned (and thus, counting against the cap) to not-like-to-be-earned (and thus, not counting against the cap).

Chiefs' Zach Sterup suspended for violating NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances from The Kansas City Star

Sterup, who signed with the Chiefs in May as an undrafted free agent from Nebraska, is eligible to return to the Chiefs' active roster on Oct. 3, following the team's week-four game against Pittsburgh.

Sterup, who remains eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games, has consistently worked with the second team at left tackle and right tackle.

NFL suspends Chiefs backup lineman Zach Sterup from ESPN

He was the second-team right tackle in last Saturday's preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks.

Still, his chances for making the team didn't appear good, even before the suspension. Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz are solid as the starting tackles, and the Chiefs re-signed veteran Jah Reid last year to be the primary backup.

Chiefs claim safety Brock Vereen off waivers from The Kansas City Star

The Chiefs continued their ongoing efforts to improve depth at safety, claiming Brock Vereen off waivers from New England on Wednesday.

To make room for Vereen, the Chiefs released safety Akeem Davis.

Vereen, a 24-year-old former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2014, retired on Monday and changed his mind Tuesday. The Patriots then waived him.

Jamaal Charles is doing more on-field work, but Chiefs will be patient with him from The Kansas City Star

But don't expect them to rush their star back into action.

"He's doing good — I'm not asking him to come out here and run for 300 yards today," running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said. "It's a process, and we just want to gradually get him back going."

Chiefs look like they made a smart choice in Chris Jones from ESPN

Chris Jones didn't make the tackle on what could have been a key snap in last week's Kansas City Chiefs preseason opener, but he made the play. The rookie defensive lineman got into the backfield on a fourth-and-1 play late in the first half and disrupted Seattle Seahawks running back George Farmer long enough for linebacker Justin March tackle Farmer for no gain.

It was but one in a series of nice plays in his preseason NFL debut by Jones, a second-round draft choice and the Chiefs' top pick.

"Chris did a lot of good things for a rookie," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said.

Marcus Cooper brings flexility to Chiefs secondary from Chiefs Digest

Three years ago Marcus Cooper briefly found himself in limbo, a football player without a team, and a fortuitous turn of events brought him to Kansas City where he found a home with the Chiefs.

Cooper enters his fourth year with the team as the jack of all trades in the secondary, with the ability to play anywhere at anytime. It's a role Cooper relishes.

"These coaches they have a good knack for the talent that we have as a whole unit and they find ways to put us in the right positions," Cooper said. "If they ask me to go somewhere, I believe in the system hard and believe what they tell me and I go there and try to perform."

Chiefs tight end Ross Travis stays ‘cool' after taking first NFL hit from The Kansas City Star

"Yeah, yeah, yeah — it ain't nothing," said Travis, a confident guy who has consistently waved off concerns about taking his first hit. "Everybody was hyping it up a little bit, but it's good. It wasn't too bad, man."

Travis took his first NFL hit on the third play of the first quarter, when he lined up in the slot, ran a precise slant route and caught a bullet over the middle from quarterback Alex Smith. Travis was tackled by all-pro Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman for an 11-yard gain.

Tamba Hali's knees continue to be a pain for Chiefs from ESPN

"Tamba's isn't as much the surgical part of it," coach Andy Reid said. "He's getting up there in years and his knees are not in the greatest of shape. Nothing that surgery is going to correct on that."

The Chiefs are expecting Hali to return to practice shortly and be ready for the Sept. 11 season opener against the San Diego Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium. But Reid's comments suggest the Chiefs will have to manage and perhaps limit Hali's playing time when he's back. That's something Hali himself suggested the Chiefs might do back in March, when he signed his new contract.

Travis Kelce will live up to fantasy football expectations from ESPN

This would be a logical season for Kelce to have a breakout year. He's 26. He again plays in a tight-end friendly offense that works for ways to get him open down the field and get him the ball in the open field when he can run after the catch. It's a disappointing season for Kelce if he can't set career-highs in all three statistical categories, so expect him to exceed these expectations.

Chiefs claim Brock Vereen on waivers from ProFootballTalk

He appeared in all 16 games as a rookie with four starts and three games with the Bears in 2015.

Last week, Vereen played in New England's preseason opener against the Saints.

Chiefs hope to intercept St. Louis fans, but won't press from The Kansas City Business Journal

Saturday's preseason game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams is sure to gather attention not only in Kansas City and Los Angeles, but also in St. Louis, presenting a huge opportunity for the Chiefs.

It will be the first time the former cross-state rivals will meet since the Rams left St. Louis. Chiefs officials see St. Louis as a great opportunity worth pursuing, but don't plan to aggressively pursue the market. They're taking a more laid back approach.

Jared Goff says he's having fun in his first Rams camp from The Los Angeles Times

A day after perhaps his most uneven performance — one that featured an interception, mishandled snap exchanges and footwork miscues — Goff responded with no turnovers, short, mid-range and deep strikes and a rhythmic operation of the offense.

He took one series with the starters in preparation for what Coach Jeff Fisher said would be at least one or two series with the first-team offense Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum.

"Every day, there's something he does better and different," Fisher said.

Rams QB Jared Goff runs with the first team, should again in Saturday's game from ESPN

"I feel like every day I am more comfortable, more fluid, more in a rhythm; stuff becomes more natural every day," Goff said. "It's been going well."

But Goff still has some growing pains.

On Tuesday, he threw a couple of picks and fumbled a couple of snaps, at one point even getting tripped up while coming out from under center. On at least a couple of occasions Wednesday, Goff -- accustomed to running a no-huddle offense and taking almost every snap from the shotgun at Cal -- didn't get the ball out quickly enough on standard three-step drops. But he also completed a 40-yard pass to Bradley Marquez, his trusty training partner, during 7-on-7 drills and later effectively orchestrated a two-minute drill with the second unit.

Chiefs camp economic impact lower than estimated from The St Joseph News-Press

"Last week was a good week, but the first week and this week it seems like we've had lower the previous years," Leer said.

Brett Esely, Associate Director of Athletics for Missouri Western, said overall attendance numbers seem to be down, but they don't have a final count yet.

"Just by eyeballing it, I'd say attendance is a little down from last year, but I'd say ultimately when it's all said and done, we'll be in the 24,000 to 26,00 average attendance for camp, I would guess," Esely said.

On The Steelers: 30 points per game may be both a goal and a necessity from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's not as if averaging 30 points over the course of a season never has been done. NFL teams did it 35 times (the Steelers' 27.25 average in 2014 ranks 95th best ever).

The first to do it were the Dallas Cowboys (31.8 points per game) of the NFL and Kansas City Chiefs (32.0) of the AFL in 1966. The most recent were the Carolina Panthers (31.3) and Arizona Cardinals (30.6) last season. The record-holders are the 2013 Denver Broncos (37.9).

None of those teams, however, won the Super Bowl in those seasons. Denver, Kansas City and Carolina came closest, losing in the big game.

Top 5 Fantasy Players On The Oakland Raiders from CBS Sacramento

Carr doesn't turn the ball over often and has weapons to throw to with Cooper and Crabtree on the outside.

If the top quarterbacks are already off the board in the later round and you still need a starter, Carr could be a low-risk, high reward pick.

The biggest issue for Carr is that he has to face both the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs defense twice in the season.

The CTA Is Increasing Service This Weekend To Avoid An Air & Water Show Mess from Chicagoist

The CTA is also planning ahead for a Bears pre-season game next week. The bears are playing the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field next Saturday, Aug. 27 at noon, and the CTA will be running extra #128 Soldier Field Express buses between Union Station, Ogilvie and Soldier Field to help out out-of-towners, while extra #146 express buses will run to and from the game and the lakefront.

NFL veteran Bernard Pollard launches prep scouting service from The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel

Bernard Pollard is not retired from the NFL. He's in shape. He's mentally ready. He's talked to five or six teams. He could report to a camp tomorrow, line up at safety and slam wide receivers like he's done for a decade.If that call doesn't come, Pollard will still be on the move.Pollard is a football player and an entrepreneur, and the second title might be about to eclipse the first. Pollard has launched My Pro Scout, an online scouting service intended to bring pro football players' perspective to high school players looking to attract colleges and improve their games. The site is myproscout.com.

Jasper Mirabile's hand pulled mozzarella from FOX4KC

On Friday, Aug. 19, former Chiefs' wide receiver Eddie Kennison and chef Jasper Mirabile are teaming up to raise money for lupus research with the Mozzarella Madness III event. In the video above chef Mirabile shows how to make hand pulled mozzarella as Kennison shares his personal experience with lupus. Kennison says his wife was diagnosed with the disease more than 12 years ago.

NFL is Trump of all sports from The Leavenworth Times

Of course, this is also a league that essentially still thinks that deflating balls and standing up to a mental midget like Goodell warrants as much of a punishment as raping women, abusing women or harming children.

Oh wait, they changed those policies, did they?

Wait, was it of their own accord? No, you say? It actually took thousands of screaming people to finally get their attention to go, "Aw, shucks, you mean we need to suspend our best players because they throw a woman through a plate glass window?"

This is a league that conscientiously and purposely lied to its own players about the damage being done to their brains, let alone their bodies, for decades. So you really think they care about you?