Kansas.com: Kansas City Chiefs

Gonzalez awaits word on trade deadline; LJ faces assault charge

ADAM TEICHER AND MARK MORRIS — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

The Chiefs pretended it was a normal day. After their weekend off, they gathered for meetings and a brief walkthrough practice and tried to put their focus on preparing for Sunday's opponent, the Tennessee Titans.

They found that dealing with the business at hand wasn't so simple, knowing that Monday could have been their last day with tight end Tony Gonzalez.

The NFL trade deadline is today, making it the last day for the Chiefs to honor Gonzalez's request for a deal. The Chiefs also have tried to trade running back Larry Johnson, but had failed to attract any interest.

Not so with Gonzalez. Several teams, including the Giants, Packers and Bills, expressed an interest, and the Chiefs have until 3 p.m. to work out a trade.

Gonzalez departed the locker room Monday before he could answer any questions about his desire to leave Kansas City after 11-plus seasons, the last nine of which ended with Gonzalez playing in the Pro Bowl.

Gonzalez asks Chiefs for trade

ADAM TEICHER — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

This year, the Chiefs prepared for the eventuality of replacing Tony Gonzalez by spending one of their three third-round draft picks on Tennessee tight end Brad Cottam.

That day could come sooner than they thought, as Gonzalez has asked the Chiefs to explore trade possibilities and they have fielded calls about his availability.

Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowl player who has been with the Chiefs since he was drafted in 1997, would like a chance to contend for a championship before his Hall of Fame career comes to a close. The NFL trade deadline, which rarely sees much action, is Tuesday.

The Chiefs appeared pessimistic they could reach a deal for Gonzalez by then. The New York Giants have been the most interested in making a trade, but the sides were far apart on the compensation.

The Chiefs were asking for a third-round pick, and the Giants offered a sixth-rounder.

Chiefs' Gailey seeking cohesion

ADAM TEICHER — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:41 CDT

To Chan Gailey, the evidence is conclusive. On the second play of the recent game against Denver, Larry Johnson burst loose for a 65-yard run, and the Chiefs went on to score 33 points -- more than they scored in their four other games combined.

Last week in Carolina, the Chiefs retreated on their first drive, losing 15 yards. They never recovered and were eventually shut out for the first time in six seasons.

That tells Gailey, the offensive coordinator, that the biggest problem on a team with many is that the Chiefs get down on themselves when circumstances aren't going their way.

"We need to do a better job of handling adversity," said Gailey, listing one of his priorities for the season's final 11 games. "I hate the word intimidate. If a football team gets intimidated, you have no chance to win. Are we getting rattled? Maybe. Are we losing some confidence? Maybe. That's what we have to fight against. We have to realize what we're capable of and if it doesn't work the first time, it could work the second time. If it doesn't work the second time, it'll work the third time. Eventually we will get there if we don't let things get us down."

Getting it reversed may be more difficult than even Gailey would like to believe. He's been the Chiefs' coordinator for only five games, but his team was suffering from a crisis of confidence going back to last season, when a feeble offense was a culprit in an 0-9 finish.

Gonzalez breaks record in Chiefs' shutout loss

ADAM TEICHER — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:51 CDT

This is exactly what Tony Gonzalez feared. His latest record-breaking catch was going to come in a stadium full of uncaring fans, in a game the Chiefs would lose and in a most unfulfilling manner.

Except his record for receiving yardage by a tight end was even less satisfying than Gonzalez ever imagined. Fitting for the day, Gonzalez set the mark in the first quarter while catching a 6-yard pass on third down and 16.

It came on a sunny Carolina afternoon when the Chiefs set a season low for offensive futility. They gained only 127 yards and never came close to scoring in a 34-0 loss to Carolina.

Instead of toasting his new record at home with family and friends after a victory, Gonzalez faced only a long and lonely trip back to Kansas City on Sunday night.

"That was the worst I have been involved with in my career," Gonzalez said after most of his teammates had cleared from a gloomy locker room.

Chiefs"other' receivers wait for passes

KENT BABB — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Devard Darling has begun following the Chiefs' quarterback off the field, whomever that happens to be on a given week, and dropping hints.

Sometimes, they're more than hints.

"Hey," Darling recalled saying, "I'm open. Trust me on this. Then again, every receiver thinks they're open on every play."

Darling is one of three Chiefs wide receivers who want to see more variety in the team's passing game. Through four games, that branch of Kansas City's offense has been predictable. Second-year receiver Dwayne Bowe has 22 catches this season. Tight end Tony Gonzalez has 18.

Darling, signed during the offseason out of Baltimore, is tied with Jeff Webb for the next-most catches among the Chiefs' other wide receivers -- with three receptions . Kansas City's second-tier receivers -- Darling, Webb and rookie Will Franklin -- are trying to tell anyone who will listen that they're out there, too, and a combined seven catches among them means more than drops and failure to get open. It means they're being ignored.

Win takes weight off young Chiefs

DOUG TUCKER — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:41 CDT

Going almost a year without winning can play tricks on a man's mind.

Just ask coach Herm Edwards, who had trouble sleeping Sunday night after his Kansas City Chiefs halted a franchise-record 12-game losing streak with a 33-19 victory over Denver.

"I kept asking my wife about 1 o'clock, 'We won, right?' " Edwards said Tuesday. "She said, 'Yeah, you won, honey.' "

Their first victory since Oct. 21, 2007, was especially important for the raft of young players on the roster of the rebuilding Chiefs, Edwards said. Coaches had noted that many of the rookies were beginning to doubt whether they even belonged in the NFL after an 0-3 start that included back-to-back blowout losses to Oakland and Atlanta.

"I think they were questioning themselves," Edwards said. "They were questioning their talent. You can't question that. The way you overcome that, you've got to just keep playing. Just play with energy. Just keep going fast. Just keep playing hard."

Gonzalez wanted to set record at Arrowhead

ADAM TEICHER — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:41 CDT

Tony Gonzalez didn't just want the NFL record for receiving yardage for tight ends. He wanted to set the mark at Arrowhead Stadium.

So when Gonzalez got within 3 yards of the record in Sunday's 33-19 home win over Denver, he began pestering head coach Herm Edwards, tight-ends coach Jon Embree and anyone else who would listen to pass him the ball one more time.

That pass never came. The Chiefs, trying to protect a lead and get their first win of the season, gave the ball to Larry Johnson on their final six offensive plays.

Gonzalez will probably get the record on the road this week when the Chiefs play the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C. But to him it won't be the same.

"It will still be the record, but I'm just a little disappointed by that," Gonzalez said Monday. "Not just a little. I'm highly disappointed. I wish I could have gotten it with a win against the Broncos, a home game, my whole family is there, they were going to do a little ceremony and stop the game and stuff.

Defense delivers in Chiefs’ 33-19 win over Denver

KENT BABB — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

Derrick Johnson slipped away from the sweaty jubilation and sneaked into a quiet hallway. The Chiefs had done it. They felt like winners again, and Johnson wanted to enjoy it outside the noise.

Nobody could hear him in here, and besides, Kansas City’s 12-game losing streak was over. So he said it: Sunday’s 33-19 win against Denver saved the Chiefs’ season.

“If we lost again,” he said, barely above a whisper, “this team was going to start falling apart. That’s what I was thinking.”

Johnson said the Chiefs’ first three losses, two of them to a pair of the NFL’s worst teams, was taking a knife to the team’s morale. Players had begun to believe it wouldn’t happen this year; that yes, 0-16 might be possible.

That’s why Johnson called a meeting this last week with defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. It was a quiet conversation like this one, and Johnson told Cunningham he wasn’t happy with how he’d been playing. He knew he was drafted in the first round more than three years ago to be a playmaker, and he hadn’t yet hit his potential. Johnson asked for autonomy. Cunningham obliged.

Chiefs can see future

DOUG TUCKER — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

While everybody raves about how lucky the Denver Broncos have been, Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards finds something more admirable about the unbeaten Broncos.

They've been smart, Edwards says. Most of all, they've been steadfast. They put up with the inevitable growing pains of young players, particularly quarterback Jay Cutler, and are now reaping the rewards.

It's the sort of thing a coach in Edwards' seat would quickly note. He's struggling with a restless fan base and an winless team loaded with young players who are experiencing the same fatal errors that Mike Shanahan's Broncos displayed while Cutler and other young athletes were coming around.

"Mike's been patient. He's been very patient with (Cutler)," Edwards said. "Brought him along, and the guy's gotten better. He's learned from his errors. And they stuck together and the guy's just gotten better and gotten better. Now all of a sudden, he's playing well and he's got some confidence."

It's the same future Edwards foresees for the Chiefs (0-3) once they work their way past this painful process of on-the-job training. The next test in the education will be dished out by the Broncos (3-0) today at Arrowhead Stadium.

Huard gets the nod

DOUG TUCKER — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:42 CDT

Damon Huard will be back under center on Sunday for winless Kansas City, giving the Chiefs a different starting quarterback for the fourth week in a row.

Huard will start against Denver (3-0) while Tyler Thigpen, who threw three picks in his first NFL start last week, returns to the bench.

In the meantime, regular starter Brodie Croyle, who separated his shoulder in the season opener at New England on Sept. 7, began light throwing Wednesday and expects to return on Oct. 19 against Tennessee.

By then, the 0-3 Chiefs could be 0-5 if they don't find some continuity at quarterback and get some consistency in a rookie-laden roster. Last week's 38-14 loss to Atlanta was Kansas City's 12th in a row going back to last October.

Coach Herm Edwards pointed to Huard's experience and Thigpen's interceptions last week in Atlanta as reasons for making a change.

Another day, another QB

KENT BABB — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:42 CDT

It's a different situation, the coach said. It's delicate. It's one that requires special consideration, and the Chiefs sure don't have room for more mistakes.

No, coach Herm Edwards said, choosing a starting quarterback takes time -- and he needed more time Tuesday to make certain another change is the appropriate thing for this wounded team.

Edwards said he's leaning toward starting Damon Huard on Sunday against Denver, instead of Tyler Thigpen. Edwards will announce it officially today, after he tells the team the Chiefs might make yet another change at their most important position.

"You've got no rhythm," Edwards said. "That hurt from the first game."

That was the game that Brodie Croyle separated his right shoulder. The Chiefs aren't planning on bringing him back until week seven, when Kansas City plays Tennessee at Arrowhead Stadium.

Denver poses daunting task for Chiefs

ADAM TEICHER — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:41 CDT

The tentative date for Brodie Croyle's return as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is Oct. 19 when they play against Tennessee, so he won't be available to rescue them in Sunday's game against Denver at Arrowhead Stadium.

Neither will Brady Quinn. The Chiefs put in a brief call to the Cleveland Browns asking about Quinn as part of their routine, leaguewide sweep when Croyle first left their lineup and were promptly told Quinn wasn't available.

The Chiefs will have to play against the 3-0 Broncos with the same group that couldn't hang with either Oakland or Atlanta in losses that extended their league-longest losing streak to 12 games.

That's a daunting task for coach Herm Edwards, who early in the Chiefs' rebuilding movement is having to battle more issues than he ever imagined.

"We don't have a strength right now on either side of the ball," Edwards said Monday. "You can't combat (problems) with something if you're doing something well. Generally you can lean on your strength, but right now we don't have a strength."

Atlanta hands Kansas City 12th straight defeat in rout

CHARLES ODUM — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:32 CDT

The Kansas City Chiefs' defensive plan was obvious: Stop the run.

That didn't deter Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons.

Turner ran for three touchdowns and the Atlanta Falcons scored the first 24 points to beat Kansas City 38-14 on Sunday.

It was a day that could rank among the worst in Chiefs history -- their franchise-worst 12th consecutive loss was their second-most lopsided during the streak -- and marked the 11-month anniversary since their last win.

Turner had scoring runs of 4, 1 and 2 yards, his first game with three rushing touchdowns, while leading the Falcons with 104 yards rushing. Jerious Norwood added 75 yards rushing.

Chiefs try to focus through hard times

KENT BABB — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:39 CDT

Tony Gonzalez reads books about this. He internalizes and memorizes, sifts through knowledge and tries to remember that during the periods most draining on your body, the mind must stay strong.

He's been through difficult times. Gonzalez's rookie year, 1998, was bad. The Chiefs lost six in a row that year.

But nothing like this.

"Most people aren't mentally strong enough to handle it," Gonzalez says, sitting in front of his locker, where he sometimes keeps some of his books about training the body and the mind.

The Chiefs have lost 11 consecutive games, the worst losing streak in franchise history. It has lasted nearly a year. If Kansas City doesn't win today at Atlanta, a young team that also is rebuilding, the Chiefs' years of tradition and bygone glory will seem even farther away.

Chiefs stick by Thigpen this week

ADAM TEICHER — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:40 CDT

Tyler Thigpen's performance at quarterback in the first extended playing time of his NFL career Sunday was less than inspiring. He completed far less than half his passes, was sacked three times, tossed an interception and almost threw several others.

For many teams, that would bury a player deeper on the bench. But for the Chiefs, it earned him a promotion.

Thigpen will make the first start of his NFL career in Sunday's game against the Falcons in Atlanta, replacing Damon Huard.

"We want to take a look at him," coach Herm Edwards said. "He's another young player at quarterback we want to look at and see where he's at.

"We're trying to look at young players, and this is part of the process. Is he a (second-string quarterback)? A one? Is he always going to be a three? You don't know until you have an opportunity to play."

Chiefs remain wed to letting kids play

KENT BABB — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:41 CDT

With the bitterness of Sunday's home loss to the Raiders still lingering, the Chiefs might have every reason to change course, tie down the sails and do whatever it takes to make certain that doesn't happen again.

But they're not.

The NFL's youngest team is going younger still, and coach Herm Edwards said Tuesday that development of the Chiefs' youngsters is this season's objective -- and that's not changing.

"This is definitely the right way," Edwards said, more calm than defiant. "The plan is to develop young players, give them the ability to play, and win with them. That's the plan.

"But we've got to play better. We've got to do a lot of things better."

Injured Huard or Thigpen will start at QB for Chiefs

KENT BABB — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

Tyler Thigpen found out that Damon Huard had been injured against the Oakland Raiders when everyone else did: two quarters after it happened.

The Chiefs' next secret could be which of the two quarterbacks will start Sunday at Atlanta; and Thigpen doesn't know the answer to that one, either.

Then again, he has been out of the loop on a few important bits of information recently.

Huard's injury occurred in the first quarter of Sunday's 23-8 loss to Oakland. Other than a few plays in which Marques Hagans lined up at quarterback, Thigpen -- who had been told he would play some -- played until the end.

That's about the time a confused Thigpen walked up to Huard on the sideline and wondered why the veteran hadn't returned.

Chiefs fall flat

KENT BABB — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:45 CDT

Damon Huard walked alone on the Arrowhead Stadium sideline during the third quarter Sunday and stared toward the scoreboard.

What more could he do?

Huard had been sacked two quarters earlier and suffered an injury whose specifics vary depending on whom you ask. Huard said it was his neck. The Chiefs said it was his head. Coach Herm Edwards said Huard was dizzy after the sack.

Huard's departure was the beginning of the Chiefs' nauseating performance Sunday in a 23-8 loss to the Oakland Raiders. He didn't return. Instead, he put on a heavy jacket and paced the Chiefs sideline while Kansas City scrambled to find an answer -- short-term, long-term, anything -- at quarterback.

"We couldn't do anything," Huard said. "We couldn't run it, couldn't throw it. It was just a tough day all around."

Johnson lashes out at Chiefs' decisions

ADAM TEICHER — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

After sharing the backfield workload for the second straight week, Larry Johnson couldn't contain his frustration any longer.

Johnson said after the Chiefs' 23-8 loss to Oakland at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday that he was obviously being phased out of the offense. Johnson had the second-lowest rushing total during his time as the Chiefs' featured back, with 22 yards in 12 carries.

"I've got to sit back and figure that the writing is on the wall, that this season or next season could be my last season as a Chief," Johnson said. "I don't know. But obviously if they're making personnel changes now and I'm not even in for any of the snaps to (try to) help win this game, then that pretty much says it for all.

"I'm not dumb. I know what's going on. I sense what's going on. Nobody should run the ball if it isn't me. I always felt that way. If I'm not getting the ball, then I should be tired. If I'm not tired and I'm not getting the ball, then there's something going on. I've just got to deal with it."

Specifically, Johnson said he was most upset at being removed from the game when the Chiefs were near the opponent's end zone. He was in for only one of the final four plays in last week's game in New England and was replaced by either Jamaal Charles or Kolby Smith on the Chiefs' only touchdown drive on Sunday.