The Morning Fix: Chiefs News

“It’s nice to get out there and catch a few balls and get involved in the offense,” Boss said, “and hopefully it carries on throughout the preseason and into the regular season.”

Indeed, the regular season is fast approaching — the Chiefs open against Atlanta on Sept. 9 — and only then will folks in Kansas City believe that Cassel and the rest of the offense has moved on from a difficult, and at times disastrous, campaign a year ago.

“I think we’ve got a real strong team. If you look from top to bottom at each position, we’re deep,” Boss said. “I’m happy to be part of it.”

The Chiefs’ starting tight end, Tony Moeaki, who is coming back from knee surgery, caught a short pass for 1 yard on the first offensive play at St. Louis, and third-teamer Jake O’Connell pulled down a 19-yard grab at St. Louis.

“It’s still early, but the sky is the limit with this position,” Boss said. “We’re really deep, with me and Tony getting on the field at the same together. Maneri has really improved, and Jake O’Connell is an excellent guy who can do a little bit of everything and made a big catch in the last game. It’s exciting to be a part of this position in this offense.”

Bowe went through a full practice on Tuesday for the first time since signing his one-year franchise tender on August 17th. He passed his physical and conditioning test working out at The University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex last Friday – his first day back on Chiefs grounds since departing for the offseason in January.

“I will play him some, just give him a couple plays here and there, but I don’t think that he’s ready to play a full game or anything like that,” Crennel said on Wednesday.

Kansas City Chiefs: If there’s one thing Crennel can do to improve this club, it’s to keep his team focused and playing at their best week in and week out. Under Todd Haley, while they played very well at times, they also tended to get blown out with annoying regularity. They lost five games by at least three touchdowns last year. Even in their 10-win 2010 campaign, they lost four games by 20 or more points (including the Wild Card game against Baltimore). The Chiefs ranked 11th in Football Outsiders’ variance stat in Haley’s first year in 2009, but 24th and 29th in 2010 and 2011 (including three games under Crennel last year).