Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 9/15

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

QB ALEX SMITH

Q: How much is still hanging around from last weekend's excitement?

SMITH: "To be totally honest, any sort of buzz is gone I think. When you look back on Sunday, or any win, you see the mistakes and they're easier to take as opposed to a loss. It's easier to correct. That goes with any win, Sunday is no different. Pretty quickly you turn on the film and realize we're going down to Houston to take on a good team -- a playoff-capable team. This is the third time going down there in two years so it's a tall task. These guys are really, really good. We know they're going to be ready. We played them nine months ago already. It's going to be a big challenge so we've turned our attention there."

Q: How's your elbow doing?

SMITH: "It's fine. It's tackle football. As you wake up the next day, you find different bumps and bruises. We're good though."

10 Things We Learned on the Chiefs Kingdom Radio Show with Andy Reid and Alex Smith from Chiefs.com

Coach Reid put the historic comeback in perspective:

"Just the fact that it hasn't been done in 60 years, it tells you the magnitude of it. It's older than I am and older than you are. That's quite an accomplishment for our football team. We should have never been in that position to have to do that. But to be able to do that—to have the grit to come out of it, and not having played well in the first half says something about the character of this football team.

Nick Foles on Alex Smith: With His Preparation, Work Ethic, He's Second to None from Chiefs.com

It has been a little more than a month since quarterback Nick Foles made headlines by signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, and what was once a top story has faded and blended in with the rest of the relentless NFL news cycle.

But though he is now out of the spotlight, his work has only picked up. Foles is the primary backup for the Chiefs, always just one play away from having to go into the game under center.

It is a thankless role, and one that requires him to not only prepare the defense as a scout-team quarterback, but also have a grasp of the offensive game plan each week.

"That's something I enjoy doing," he said of juggling the roles. "I've done it before, and you just want to give the defense the best look. You want to go out there and compete and you want to make sure you're helping those guys on the scout team get better as well, as well as working on your fundamentals."

Chiefs Quarterbacks Visit Local Fire Department in Remembrance of 9/11 from Chiefs.com

On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs home opener marked the 15th anniversary since the terrorist attacks that stunned the country on September 11, 2001.

With that in mind, the Chiefs quarterback unit made an intimate visit to a local Kansas City fire station Monday in Westport, recognizing firefighters, EMTs and first responders who serve in the Kansas City area.

Chiefs could be without guards Parker Ehinger, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from The Kansas City Star

That's because the starter at left guard, rookie Parker Ehinger, sustained a concussion in Wednesday's practice, while the starting right guard, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, missed practice because of a high ankle sprain.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid spoke to reporters before Wednesday's practice, so the earliest he'll comment on Ehinger's injury is his next scheduled news conference Friday. But Reid did address Duvernay-Tardif's injury before practice.

"We'll just have to see exactly how bad that is," Reid said. "He's feeling a lot better today than he did yesterday."

Chiefs' Spencer Ware misses practice because of sprained toe from The Kansas City Star

"He'll be all right for the game," Reid said, referring to the Chiefs' noon Sunday kickoff against the Houston Texans. "It's just, we'll rest him up today."

Ware, 25, is coming off a monster game in which he tallied 70 rushing yards and 129 receiving yards as the lead back, as he doubled Charcandrick West in touches, 18 to nine, despite playing the same amount of snaps, 34.

Reid also said that quarterback Alex Smith, who had a noticeable bump on his elbow following Sunday's game, is doing fine.

Chiefs' Parker Ehinger suffers concussion in practice from Chiefs Digest

HOUSTON TEXANS

Practice report

Did not participate in practice: T Duane Brown (knee) and ILB Brian Cushing (knee)
Limited participation: G Jeff Allen (knee)
Full participation: FB Jay Prosch (ankle), OLB John Simon (wrist) and DE J.J. Watt (back)

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Practice report

Did not participate in practice: RB Spencer Ware (toe), LB Sam Barrington (hamstring) and G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (ankle)
Limited participation: G Parker Ehinger (concussion), RB Jamaal Charles (knee) and LB Tamba Hali (knee)
Full participation: None

Chiefs create $6 million in cap room with Justin Houston contract restructure from The Kansas City Star

The extra cap space — Houston's cap number in 2016 has fallen from $19.1 million to $13.1 million — allows the Chiefs greater flexibility when it comes to signing a free agent or extending a current player's contact. The Chiefs have a pair of key Pro Bowlers who are set to hit free agency in 2017 in safety Eric Berry, 28, and nose tackle Dontari Poe, 26.

The Chiefs don't necessarily have to do anything with the money this year, however. Houston's restructure added $1.5 million to his cap number from 2017 to 2020 — his cap number for 2017 is now $22.1 million instead of $20.6 — but because cap room rolls over to the next year in the NFL, the Chiefs will gain about $4.5 million in cap room for next year if they don't use the money this season.

Chiefs restructure LB Justin Houston contract; waive CB KeiVarae Russell from Chiefs Digest

The restructure drops Houston's 2016 salary by $7.5 million to $7.4 million. That salary converts to a bonus, which is spread over the remaining five years of the the six-year contract Houston signed last year.

That gives Houston a cap number of $13.1 million this year, down from $19.1 million.

‘Football decision': Chiefs release KeiVarae Russell, re-sign Dezman Moses from The Kansas City Star

"Anyone can go at any time," said fourth-round rookie guard Parker Ehinger, a starter. "It's all based on performance and how you handle yourself inside the locker room and outside. People are going to come and go; no one is guaranteed another day."

Ehinger, speaking before practice, said seeing this happen to a fellow rookie hurts — "I'm becoming good friends with him," he said. Other first-year players agreed.

"You're still co-workers, but you hate to see that happen to anybody," said sixth-round cornerback D.J. White, who essentially beat out Russell for a job. "You definitely feel for him."

Chiefs' abrupt disengagement with KeiVarae Russell reflects disconnect of their own from The Kansas City Star

Somehow, someone whose fundamental story was one of redemption essentially became irredeemable in a football sense.

"We felt that that was the best thing to do for the Chiefs right now" was about as in-depth as coach Andy Reid would take it, and the Chiefs declined to make Dorsey available for comment.

But particularly coinciding as it did with the Chiefs restructuring Justin Houston's contract to free up $6 million in salary cap room for 2016, the abrupt divestment three days after Russell was inactive for the Chiefs' opener is open to any number of interpretations and questions that may or may not get answered publicly in the near term.

Even if it ultimately becomes evident this is all part of marshalling financial forces toward a free agent or extending a current player's contract, though, it doesn't explain how someone drafted in such a prominent spot so rapidly became expendable.

Andy Reid provides vague explanation of KeiVarae Russell's release from ESPN

Reid is rarely critical of players in public so his vague response isn't surprising.

His most interesting comment on the matter was in response to a question about, in effect, the Chiefs flushing their third-round draft pick. The Chiefs drafted one other cornerback, D.J. White, in the sixth round; he was in uniform last week against the San Diego Chargers.

Chiefs waive third-round pick KeiVarae Russell from Chiefs Digest

"We felt that that was what was the best thing to do for the Chiefs right now," Reid said. "He's a good young man and I think he has a good future. But for right now that's what we needed."

The team selected Russell with the 74th pick overall in this year's draft. The move makes the rookie the highest overall pick released by his team so far from this year's draft.

More Chiefs receivers are finally joining the party from ESPN

"The less dimensional you are from a ... personnel standpoint, I think any good defense, any good scheme on defense, can take away a guy, can take away two guys," Smith said. "Ultimately if you're well balanced ... that's what's difficult to stop. That's what's hard to stop. That's what we want to be. That's what we take a lot of pride in being."

The Chiefs didn't have that type of balance last season, when Maclin and Kelce combined to catch 51 percent of the completions and accounted for 56 percent of the receiving yards. Those numbers were 32 and 38 percent, respectively, against the Chargers.

Maclin and Kelce should benefit if the Chiefs can develop some other consistent receiving threats.

Chiefs following up on plans to be a bridge between authorities and community from The Kansas City Star

In the days since they linked arms on the sideline Sunday in a three-pronged show of unity, respect for authorities and what they referred to as calling attention to issues, receiver Chris Conley said Wednesday that the entire team has met with what he described as "local officials here in Kansas City to get a better grasp, really, of what's going on here in Kansas City and some broader things that are going on in our country."

Conley called it "the initial stages" of talks, and he and others preferred not to elaborate much at this stage about with whom they met and the deep details of what they hope to achieve.

"As those talks do flush out, we'll come up with what message we're trying to send and how we're going to send it," he said. "And I think that's going to involve some of us getting out there in the community alongside the people who work in our community and alongside the people in our community."

Dick Vermeil, five former Chiefs players on 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot from The Kansas City Star

Five former Chiefs players and coach Dick Vermeil are among the 94 modern-era candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

The nominees with Chiefs ties are cornerbacks Albert Lewis (1983-93) and Ty Law (2006-07), kickers Nick Lowery (1980-93) and Morten Andersen (2002-03) and defensive end Leslie O'Neal (1998-99). Vermeil was head coach during 2001-05 after leading the Eagles and Rams to Super Bowls.

Chiefs are least-valuable franchise in AFC West, according to Forbes from The Kansas City Star

Owning an NFL team is still a good investment.

No surprise about that, but the annual Forbes valuations of NFL teams shows that on average franchises are worth 19 percent more than a year ago.

That's certainly true of the Chiefs. According to Forbes, which released the new valuations on Wednesday, the Chiefs' value jumped from $1.53 billion in 2015 to $1.88 billion this year, an increase of 23 percent.

Forbes ranks Chiefs as 26th in NFL franchise value from Chiefs Digest

The Dallas Cowboys ranked as the most-valuable franchise in the league for the 10th straight season with a value of $4.2 billion. The Cowboys lead the league in both revenue ($700 million) and operating income ($300 million).

Following the Cowboys in value: the New England Patriots ($3.4 billion), New York Giants ($3.1 billion), San Francisco 49ers ($3 billion) and Washington Redskins ($2.95 billion).

Ranking Week 2's best-to-worst matchups from ESPN

4. Chiefs at Texans

Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Matchup quality: 61 out of 100

FPI win projection: Texans, 55 percent

Bill O'Brien might still be having nightmares about his last meeting with Kansas City: a 30-0 home loss in last season's wild-card round. The 2016 Texans are an entirely different team, though, with Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller and Will Fuller all new to the team and looking to build off solid debuts in Week 1.

Know Your Foe: Kansas City Chiefs from HoustonTexans.com

The Kansas City Chiefs' last two playoff wins have spanned the past 23 years. Unfortunately, both of those have come over Houston teams. Prior to the 2015 season, the last playoff win for the Chiefs came in the building to our left over the 1993 Houston Oilers with Joe Montana and Marcus Allen leading the way in an AFC Divisional playoff win.

The next playoff win for the Chiefs came last season in this building over the Houston Texans. It was the second win of the year for the Chiefs over the Texans at NRG Stadium as the Chiefs beat the Texans in the opener of the 2015 season. Suffice it to say, the Chiefs had the Texans' number in 2015.

As luck would have it, the Chiefs travel to Houston for a third time in just over a year in Week 2 of the 2016 season. As such, my ‘Know Your Foe' series continues with a team that the Texans have gotten to know well in that year's timeframe.

Despite success in 2015, Chiefs won't take Texans for granted from The Sports Xchange via FS Kansas City

"Yeah, they are a different team," Reid said. "Offensively, they've got new people there. They looked sharp on Sunday.

"I mean, that's a good football team. We understand that. We understand we have to have a good week of practice here."

With so many new faces on offense for the Texans (1-0), from quarterback Brock Osweiler to running back Lamar Miller to rookie receivers Will Fuller and Braxton Miller serving as complements to standout DeAndre Hopkins, it might be wise to disregard what unfolded on Jan. 9, when the Chiefs limited the Texans to 226 yards while forcing five turnovers -- all charged to then-Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer.

Texans' Brock Osweiler hopes knowledge of Chiefs provides winning edge from The Houston Chronicle

"Fairly familiar," Osweiler said. "I've only played one half against the Kansas City Chiefs, but I've been a part of many meetings, game planning against them, I've been a part of many games, watching from the sideline. I feel like I know their personnel fairly well. But when you watch the Kansas City Chiefs on tape you see a team that's physical. It starts up front. It starts with their linebackers.

"Derrick Johnson, he's a stud. He's a terrific football player. He's just one of on that defense. There's a lot of great football players on that defense. I think 'physical' is the first thing you say, and then you see a unit that plays as just that -€” a unit. It's 11 guys flying to the football every single play. I see a hell of a defense and I know we have a great challenge on Sunday."

Andy Reid Thinks 2016 Texans Are Different From 30-0 Playoff Victims from CBS Houston

"I think they're healthier, they're flying around making plays, their offense is different," Reid said. "They play fast on both sides of the ball." "Their strengths are phenomenal."

Reid praised the Texans new weapons including Will Fuller who he referred to as a "speed demon". Fuller had a solid debut tallying 107 yards on five catches with a touchdown.

The veteran coach also praised Texans head coach Bill O'Brien.

Controlling Travis Kelce a priority for Texans from The Houston Chronicle

Gripping the football with his left hand while accelerating upfield without being touched by the Texans' defense, Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce suddenly wound up his right fist and punched the ball as he coasted into the end zone.

Chiefs fans coined a nickname for the choreographed display from Kelce: "The Fist of Zeus."

The elaborate celebration last September during a season-opening victory over the Texans was punctuated by Kelce flexing his muscles.

Draft bust, you say? Chiefs' Smith is flying higher than ever from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

There was no rational reason to expect Alex Smith to be in his current position.

It was just a few years ago that he was a bust, a first-round pick of the 49ers who had failed to live up to expectations.

His job had been snatched away by Colin Kaepernick and he had been shuttled off to Kansas City for a couple of draft picks, his career scuffling along but just barely.

"He had a lot of adversity his first few years, had what, seven coordinators in seven years?" Chiefs offensive tackle Mitch Schwartz said. "He's had to bounce around a lot."

All those hardships have only made these days more gratifying.

Opening win a new experience for Chiefs' Schwartz from The Sports Xchange via Lindy's Sports

In four seasons playing for the Cleveland Browns — where he started all 64 games at right tackle — Mitchell Schwartz experienced many things. The most frequent was losing. From 2012 to 2015, the Browns went 19-45, a .297 winning percentage.

In all four years, the Browns lost their season opener. In fact, Cleveland hasn't won the first game of the year since 2004. That made the Chiefs' remarkable come-from-behind victory over San Diego last Sunday the first opening day success for Schwartz.

It was an outcome that reminded him of one of the major components of winning in the NFL: a proficient starting quarterback. Alex Smith led K.C.'s remarkable come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Chargers.

Fantasy football rankings, Week 2: Quarterbacks from SB Nation

An unfamiliar face joined the top fantasy quarterbacks in Week 1. Alex Smith had the second-highest passing yardage of his career and ran for the game-winning score in overtime. It's doubtful that the Kansas City Chiefs are leaning towards a pass-heavy attack -- probably more a case of an opportunity being taken advantage of against a poor San Diego Chargers defense. Smith will be leaning on the run game in Week 2 against a tough Houston Texans defense.

Wednesday NFL buzz: Bills lose starter for Thursday matchup with Jets from USA Today

Kansas City Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles worked with the scout team Wednesday as he works his way back from a torn ACL suffered last year.

"Every day he gets a little bit better," Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters Wednesday.

The Chiefs play at the Houston Texans on Sunday.

NFL position rankings: Top 10 pass-catching RBs from NFL.com

Special mention...

...Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs: If this was 2013, Charles would top the list. It's fair to wonder how his role will change after stand-in Spencer Ware racked up 129 receiving yards in the season opener.

Spencer Ware, Kansas City Chiefs: As impressive as Ware was in the dramatic comeback versus the Chargers, he had managed just five yards on six career receptions entering that game.

2017 Super Bowl Odds for NFL Week 2: Panthers, Bucs offer value from CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs (20-1, Previously 20-1): Sigh. All of my mentions with the Chiefs fans. Crucial first week win for this team and an incredible comeback.

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif named the unsung hero of the 1st week, but injured from RDS [translated from the original French]

The right guard of the Kansas City Chiefs was named the unsung hero of the first week by USA Today.

Indeed, the American media has launched a new weekly column in which he identifies an offensive lineman who starred for his team.

However, the product Redmen suffering a sprained ankle injury he has inflicted upon winning touchdown for his team. He did not practice Wednesday and his condition will be reassessed daily.

Landers Athlete of the Week: Terrace Marshall Jr. - Sept. 14 from KSLA

It's also in his DNA as his mother was also an athlete,

"I played basketball and ran track, this photo album brings back so many memories," said Terrace's mother, Meoshia Brazzle. "Joe Delaney is Terrace Marshall Junior's great uncle that's my moms twin brother."

Joe Delaney is a legendary running back that played for the Kansas City Chiefs. Delaney grew up in Haughton and ran track and played football for the Northwestern State demons. He still holds records down in Natchitoches.

"I think he's going to pick up where his uncle left off you know the legacy lives on and I think he's going to continue what his uncle joe Delaney started," saide Meoshia Brazzle.