The Morning Fix: Welcome Back Football Edition

“He can run,” Haley said. “And he’s been excellent from a leadership standpoint. He’s a guy each and every year I’ve seen improvement. Last year was disappointing for him and for us because he had worked so hard and had an injury that didn’t allow him to continue. But he helped us coach out there and was actively involved. … He’s been champing at the bit …”

Quarterback – This has essentially been a trade that sent Brodie Croyle away and drafted Ricky Stanzi out of Iowa. Haley says he’s comfortable with Tyler Palko and Stanzi backing up starter Matt Cassel. Let’s see what he says in a couple of week. Are the Chiefs better at quarterback than they were last year? NO.

Running back – The bodies are the same as last year, only Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles and Jackie Battle all have another year of wear and tear on their bodies. Dexter McCluster has been added to their group, but he’ll be swinging back and forth at wide receiver depending on where he lines up on any given play. Are the Chiefs better at running back than they were last year? NO.

Q: Will you learn more about your team Friday night than maybe you have in the last two weeks?

HALEY: “I think that all just depends on how much you see certain guys and what situations are they in. You could have a corner that sits out there and plays a coverage; because obviously we don’t have everything in that we will have in at some point, and they might not throw the ball over there. So, that evaluation might not be as good, or you might not have as much information out of this game as you would’ve hoped. That’s why we say, you’re being evaluated every day, in everything you do. I think if you don’t do that in any situation, last year, this year, 10 years ago, you know, you could have some problems. This is a moving sport with a lot of different variables. Again, it all depends on the situation.”

“I think we’re going to see good competition,” Pioli said. “We’ll let you know probably a little bit more when we actually see the situation this weekend and the coming weeks. I think we have two good players that are going to be competing really hard to be the backup guy.”

The lack of an experienced backup is something new to Chiefs fans. The position has historically been occupied by a player with previous starting experience dating back to the early 1990s.