Chiefs Training Camp Coverage: Friday Practice Report

by Chiefs

 


More training camp coverage from AA Camp Correspondent Ryan James-PA

Welcome to the Midwest! Missouri showed its brutal side today with some of the heaviest humidity I have experienced. I dont know how to explain it. The actual temperature did not hit 90 degrees but because of the rain we had here early this morning the air was thick. During the afternoon practice, the sun came out and coupled with the high humidity it was just nasty. There was no wind to speak of. Mike had a great report on the Tamba situation and he mentioned a fallen comrade. I was walking by the WR/DB area (which I got some excellent video of) when I noticed a young man who was weak in the knees. I stopped and asked him if he was ok and by the time he said yes, he passed out in my arms. It was surreal. The Heartland EMT’s were there quick and got him some water and took him back to an air conditioned tent. I stopped by the med station on the way out to see if he was ok and they had already let him go and they said he was fine. I stop here to give some advice to anyone going out to see the Chiefs at camp.

PLEASE BE SMART AND BRING YOUR WATER AND MAKE SURE TO EAT BEFORE YOU COME! IT IS VERY HOT AND HUMID AND NO ONE IS ABOVE A HEAT STROKE. (Water is 2-3 dollars a bottle at the camp so make sure to bring your own!!)

More after the jump.

I too saw Tamba walking to the port-a-potty and my friends and I were wandering if he was leaving. When we noticed that he just went inside we blew it off. After a bit, I heard someone mention that something was wrong with Tamba. We looked over and he had taken his shirt off and some trainers ran over to aid him. He walked right in front of us with the trainers holding on to him and he looked incredibly weak. Very slow, wide steps. They got him to the tent and within minutes they brought the cart over and Barry Richardson rode in the passenger while they laid Tamba down in the back with a trainer knelt down beside him. They did not return.

We saw Richardson laying on the ground after a play on an 11-on-11 scrimmage. No one who I was with saw what had happened only that they were tending to him. When they took him to the sidelines, some thought it was his back because he was kind of stiff. They then gave him a bottle of water and a bunch of wet towels and laid them on the back of his neck and his knees. This to me confirmed that it was heat exhaustion.

To cap off the injury report, Baldwin, Moeaki and Dorsey were in the trainers area. I got a good look at them on the west side of the practice field. Dorsey had a black wrap on his left knee, which confirms what I saw Thursday. He was working well on his leg. He was doing lifts and using the exercise bike with little trouble. My guess (only a guess) is that its a strain and he will should not miss much time. Baldwin looked good as well. Moeaki looked great! He was sprinting at full speed toward the end of practice. I expect to see him within the next few days.

Now that the down sides of today are out of the way, there were a lot of positives to glean from today. I’m going to go ahead and say it…I LOVE LE’RON MCCLAIN! He has an incredible drive about him. I will be sending in some video which shows his surprising quickness! Now that the all the RB’s are in camp the drills are fun to watch. McClain will be a leader on this team by his passion alone. Jackie Battle continues to improve and I believe he will be a key special teams contributor this year like he was last year. Shane Bannon won’t see much playing time but he is a blocking machine. Charles had a tough time catching the football during a RB catching drill today. McCluster is still a camp and fan favorite with his explosiveness. Tevarous Johnson is MUCH bigger than I thought he was. He is #38 on the video.

The real crowd gatherer was the WR/DB drills toward the last part of the indy drills today. It was extremely competitive and I got to hear Todd Haley coach WR’s for the first time. I know see why he is know to be such a good WR coach and why Breaston and Urban are here now. He is EXTREMELY knowledgeable on the position and when he is instructing the WR’s listen. Last week we picked up #5 Zeke Markshausen. This little guy really surprised me today. He is quick and he has displayed some great hands during camp. He is still raw and I don’t think that he will make the roster but I do think that he will make the practice squad so they can develop him a little bit. Veran Tucker had a great day today. He even shook Flowers out of the gate, blowing by him but the pass was overthrown by Palko. WR’s Josue Paul and Chandler Williams look the exact same and they play similar as well. Paul is a rookie out of Central Connecticut and Williams is a 2nd year pro out of Florida International. Look for these too in next week’s preseason game and you will like what you see.

On the defensive side of the ball, Justin Houston made his Chiefs debut today. A lot of media were hating on him for being winded on twitter during practice. No one was hating on Hali when he went down. There are certain media personalities that I am not going to call out that tend to be “shock jocks” and only focus on the negative side of things. Sure Houston signed his contract late but I am hearing that it was his agent that was having him do that. The agent instructed him not to sign anything until the CBA was ratified, which made since because thirty minutes after the CBA was ratified, news hit that the Chiefs came to terms with Justin Houston. Lets give Houston a chance guys. He was seen numerous times talking with Hali on the sidelines getting some veteran pointers. Kendrick Lewis has really been sticking out to me during camp. He is reading routes extremely well and jumping them as well.

Well this caps off another day of training camp and we are not one week until our first preseason game! Tomorrow is family fun day and unfortunately I will not be attending. If I hear any news, I will make sure to communicate it with you guys via twitter. RED and YELLOW!!

 

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SATURDAY "FAMILY FUN DAY" REPORT - HALI WAS BACK! Definitely just the heat. Moeaki, Baldwin & Dorsey spent another day in the PUP. Baldwin and Dorsey need to get on the field soon as there are players who will gladly take their spots. I know everyone is worried/pissed off about Houston but keep the faith. Leonard Pope told my son that he is mentoring him as the are both Georgia Bulldogs. I see them together whenever they aren't in their respctive position drills. This gives me some comfort as we all know Pope is a great veteran influence and a Haley guy. I truly admire the shape these players are in to be able to compete in this scorching weather. I went from one end of the field to the other a couple of times to get autographs and pics today as was wiped out! I was lucky enough to meet Donald Washington Jr. today! He is the father of our #27 Donald Washington III. Great guy who is so proud of his only son. Three girls and Donald. He just moved to KC and doesn't know anyone yeat so he gave me his # as he wants to tailgate with the "real fans". His wife and Donald's fiance were there with Sheffield's extremely hot girl friend. Just when I thought it was as hot as is could get she showed up and the mercury was rising! Ed "muscles" Hockulee and his team of officials were in camp calling penalties during the drills. Camp is a must do for every Chief fan at some point. You get so close to the players,get to talk to them and listen to them interact which makes them so much more than pieces on the chess board. The autograph session is chaotic and I would recommend a walk through or regular practice if you have to choose. The FF Day is $12/person and the other days are free. There are tons of people there on FFD which makes it difficult to get around and limits your access to the players but it does increase the enthusiasm. On offense DMC is so quick! Charles is the better back and may be faster but man can DMC adjust/accelerate! Haley is going to use him much more this year but I hope he reconsiders running him between the tackles. He carried into the line today and eventough I knew our guys weren't going to tackle him my heart still skipped a beat! Cassel is the leader of this team for sure and he seems to be coming out of his shell much further and often. Stansi had a good day but Palko looked lost - could find his man/ate the ball & even called time out during drills?? Does anyone know if there is a decent back up QB available? And NO Favre isn't an option. McClain is looking so much faster than I expected him to be which is great! Battle had back-to-back impressive days. Tucker and Urban looked really good, Horne made some sweet leaping TD catches, Bowe just keeps getting smoother, Breaston looks polished and will contribute immediately. Williams, Bano and Paul all could contribute if they can play special teams as we are deep at WR. On the D Berry look great today, the Brandons will be one of the best CB tandems in th NFL, Arenas confidence and play is becoming very evident. He was hamming it up for a pic I took of him and will send along. Siler is impressive, leading the D on 11 on 11 and will be pushing Belcher for the starting ILB for sure. DJ will have a Pro Bowl year 1) because he has become a great player from Haley's coaching and 2) beacause Gregg/Powe will be the answer we have needed for so long at NT. The "berries" (Wallace & Eric) are going to be huge for us this year. Allen "Gator" Bailey is ferocious! So is Tyson - whole new attitude from him. Colquitt is absolutely amazing and will make a huge difference for our D if our offense ever stops scoring and gives him a chance to pin our competiton deep. Sheffield continues to impress and Demario had a nice pick today. KC Wolf and the cheerleaders were there in force and the day just got warmer and warmer. I told them that I was there to gather pics for the guys at AA and they were happy to oblige. Brett - the cute blonde with short hair is an avid AA reader and even has the app on her I-phone as did the brunette with her in the picture. I will send the goodies to Patrick for processing! It has been a long time since we had this much of this level of talent on our team and I don't care what anyone says - there isn't anyone we can't beat! No I'm not saying that we will win every game but there definitely won't be any blow outs either. Can't wait to see them play the Bucs on Friday! GO CHIEFS! CHIEFS WILL 2011!!

@KC MikeG I don't think so, at least I never saw him pull a cell phone out of the goal post.

@Chief Hokie Chris looked good but Zeke looked even better.

@LyleGraversen Or was it Joe Horn??

Yesterday was HORRIBLE. I took my dog out for a walk around the block and was tired. It wasn't the heat so much as the humidity. I feel for these guys all the way. I really hope this weather gives up next week or else we could see more of what happened to Tamba and Richardson. Just so you could do a comparison, I am about Dex's size.

@Talicore Yeah, I feel bad for him. They say he's probably done for the season.

Just saw that Sweet Ron tore his biceps in Carolina. That has to suck....

A lot of people said he was sucking wind but hell, it was hot. It took Tamba Hali out totally and we know he isn't out of shape. @tm1946

sorry, should have been a reply to Chief Hokie.

I saw him a little bit of him yesterday. He did okay. He seems like an exact clone of WR Chris Horn who was on the Chiefs roster a few years back (not to be confused with Jeremy Horne who is on the team now). Little tiny white guy with good hands but not a lot else.

Has anyone seen or heard how Chris Manno has been playing? I read an article this morning stating that Manno had one of the best workouts of any player in the last 12 years of Chief's tryouts, but that was before training camp.

Great recap, I think the best way to describe that kind of humidity is "suffocating" because it doesn't really feel like you can breathe, the weight and heat of the air are crushing.

Question about Houston. Did he look slow and out of shape to anyone but the media?

Great report Ryan, what's really cool is that it sounds like we watched opposite groups. I didn't see hardly any of the RBs and WRs and focused on the OL and DL. So when I post my reactions it won't just be repeat info. I just wish I could have been there for more then one day. Thanks again for all your work.

KC MikeG 319 pts

SATURDAY "FAMILY FUN DAY" REPORT -

HALI WAS BACK! Definitely just the heat. Moeaki, Baldwin & Dorsey spent another day in the PUP. Baldwin and Dorsey need to get on the field soon as there are players who will gladly take their spots.

I know everyone is worried/pissed off about Houston but keep the faith. Leonard Pope told my son that he is mentoring him as the are both Georgia Bulldogs. I see them together whenever they aren't in their respctive position drills. This gives me some comfort as we all know Pope is a great veteran influence and a Haley guy.

I truly admire the shape these players are in to be able to compete in this scorching weather. I went from one end of the field to the other a couple of times to get autographs and pics today as was wiped out!

I was lucky enough to meet Donald Washington Jr. today! He is the father of our #27 Donald Washington III. Great guy who is so proud of his only son. Three girls and Donald. He just moved to KC and doesn't know anyone yeat so he gave me his # as he wants to tailgate with the "real fans". His wife and Donald's fiance were there with Sheffield's extremely hot girl friend. Just when I thought it was as hot as is could get she showed up and the mercury was rising! Ed "muscles" Hockulee and his team of officials were in camp calling penalties during the drills.

Camp is a must do for every Chief fan at some point. You get so close to the players,get to talk to them and listen to them interact which makes them so much more than pieces on the chess board. The autograph session is chaotic and I would recommend a walk through or regular practice if you have to choose. The FF Day is $12/person and the other days are free. There are tons of people there on FFD which makes it difficult to get around and limits your access to the players but it does increase the enthusiasm.

On offense DMC is so quick! Charles is the better back and may be faster but man can DMC adjust/accelerate! Haley is going to use him much more this year but I hope he reconsiders running him between the tackles. He carried into the line today and eventough I knew our guys weren't going to tackle him my heart still skipped a beat! Cassel is the leader of this team for sure and he seems to be coming out of his shell much further and often. Stansi had a good day but Palko looked lost - could find his man/ate the ball & even called time out during drills?? Does anyone know if there is a decent back up QB available? And NO Favre isn't an option. McClain is looking so much faster than I expected him to be which is great! Battle had back-to-back impressive days. Tucker and Urban looked really good, Horne made some sweet leaping TD catches, Bowe just keeps getting smoother, Breaston looks polished and will contribute immediately. Williams, Bano and Paul all could contribute if they can play special teams as we are deep at WR.

On the D Berry look great today, the Brandons will be one of the best CB tandems in th NFL, Arenas confidence and play is becoming very evident. He was hamming it up for a pic I took of him and will send along. Siler is impressive, leading the D on 11 on 11 and will be pushing Belcher for the starting ILB for sure. DJ will have a Pro Bowl year 1) because he has become a great player from Haley's coaching and 2) beacause Gregg/Powe will be the answer we have needed for so long at NT. The "berries" (Wallace & Eric) are going to be huge for us this year. Allen "Gator" Bailey is ferocious! So is Tyson - whole new attitude from him. Colquitt is absolutely amazing and will make a huge difference for our D if our offense ever stops scoring and gives him a chance to pin our competiton deep. Sheffield continues to impress and Demario had a nice pick today.

KC Wolf and the cheerleaders were there in force and the day just got warmer and warmer. I told them that I was there to gather pics for the guys at AA and they were happy to oblige. Brett - the cute blonde with short hair is an avid AA reader and even has the app on her I-phone as did the brunette with her in the picture. I will send the goodies to Patrick for processing!

It has been a long time since we had this much of this level of talent on our team and I don't care what anyone says - there isn't anyone we can't beat! No I'm not saying that we will win every game but there definitely won't be any blow outs either. Can't wait to see them play the Bucs on Friday! GO CHIEFS! CHIEFS WILL 2011!!

ForeverRanger 5 pts

Yesterday was HORRIBLE. I took my dog out for a walk around the block and was tired. It wasn't the heat so much as the humidity. I feel for these guys all the way. I really hope this weather gives up next week or else we could see more of what happened to Tamba and Richardson.

Just so you could do a comparison, I am about Dex's size.

Talicore 60 pts

Just saw that Sweet Ron tore his biceps in Carolina. That has to suck....

LyleGraversen 313 pts

Talicore Yeah, I feel bad for him. They say he's probably done for the season.

LyleGraversen 313 pts

I saw him a little bit of him yesterday. He did okay. He seems like an exact clone of WR Chris Horn who was on the Chiefs roster a few years back (not to be confused with Jeremy Horne who is on the team now). Little tiny white guy with good hands but not a lot else.

LyleGraversen 313 pts

sorry, should have been a reply to Chief Hokie.

KC MikeG 319 pts

LyleGraversen

Or was it Joe Horn??

LyleGraversen 313 pts

KC MikeG I don't think so, at least I never saw him pull a cell phone out of the goal post.

Chief Hokie 87 pts

Has anyone seen or heard how Chris Manno has been playing? I read an article this morning stating that Manno had one of the best workouts of any player in the last 12 years of Chief's tryouts, but that was before training camp.

KC MikeG 319 pts

Chief Hokie

Chris looked good but Zeke looked even better.

Nick Rodgers 62 pts

Great recap,

I think the best way to describe that kind of humidity is "suffocating" because it doesn't really feel like you can breathe, the weight and heat of the air are crushing.

tm1946 183 pts

Question about Houston. Did he look slow and out of shape to anyone but the media?

Arowhead_Addict 491 pts

A lot of people said he was sucking wind but hell, it was hot. It took Tamba Hali out totally and we know he isn't out of shape. tm1946

LyleGraversen 313 pts

Great report Ryan,

what's really cool is that it sounds like we watched opposite groups. I didn't see hardly any of the RBs and WRs and focused on the OL and DL. So when I post my reactions it won't just be repeat info. I just wish I could have been there for more then one day. Thanks again for all your work.