“There is a lot of natural instinct in that position, and he appears to be real good with the ball in his hands,” Haley said. “We’ve seen that on interceptions in college, we’ve seen it on the practice field.
He’s got a natural feel for running with the football in his hands. He’s got good vision. He knows how to set blocks. He’s got a skill set that enables him to use all of his assets.”
Arenas is also playing nickel back with the first-team defense. The Falcons didn’t go with many three-receiver sets Friday, so Arenas will have to wait until the second exhibition game on Saturday night at Tampa Bay to get more involved with the defense.
Arenas, who is just 5-foot-9 and 197 pounds, intercepted six passes in his two years as a starting left cornerback at Alabama, including five as a senior for the national-champion Tide. He also was a successful on-the-corner blitzer, recording seven sacks, including five as a senior. And he was beaten for just one touchdown.
“I play cornerback,” Arenas said, not wanting to be typecast as just a return man. “Returning is second for me. I’m not being greedy and saying I just want to do one thing. When I go out there and practice and give it my all, wherever role is, I’ll do the best.”
Javier Arenas could be the Chiefs’ next great return man-KCStar.com
THE OFFENSE
Dexter McCluster had no shortage of touches Sunday, taking the majority of the carries while lined up at running back and most of the receptions while playing wide receiver. McCluster is listed as a wideout, but it’s becoming clear the rookie will be featured at multiple positions. … At least for one day, veteran Casey Wiegmann appeared to overtake Rudy Niswanger as the team’s No. 1 center. Wiegmann worked with the first team during Sunday’s practice. … With injured tight ends Tony Moeaki and Jake O’Connnell spending the afternoon in the conditioning area, Cody Slate got most of the work alongside Leonard Pope.THE DEFENSE
Second-year end Tyson Jackson finally had an impressive play during a team drill, getting through the offensive line to stop fullback Tim Castille for a loss. Jackson still worked with the second-team defense during some 11-on-11 drills, although the personnel was mixed during many of those configurations. … Andy Studebaker was with the first-team defense during much of Sunday’s practice, getting work at left outside linebacker in place of veteran Mike Vrabel, who worked primarily with the nickel defense.
Arenas, who returned seven punts for touchdowns during his career at Alabama, said it was a good start for the kick return unit.
“You can’t overthink it in that position because a lot of mistakes can be made very easily,” Arenas said. “It’s more just trusting in the scheme and the guys that are in front of you.”
Despite making some mistakes against Atlanta, Haley said his young team is moving in the right direction.
“I think a bunch of guys specifically young guys…showed up when the lights came on in a postive manner,” Haley said. “I think we saw a lot of transfer of things that have been happening on the practice field go to the game. I thought there were a lot of encouraging signs.”
Chiefs get back to work-Newspresssnow.com
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Tags: kansas city chiefs
Patrick is the senior editor of Arrowhead Addict. Back when he used to have a life, he enjoyed theater and long walks in the park. Now he spends upwards of 18 hours a day looking at his computer writing about the Chiefs. He spends the other six hours thinking about writing about the Chiefs. It may one day cause him to lose everything,
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