Chiefs Training Camp Coverage: Friday Practice Report

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!!