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THE UNIVERSITY OF HALY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson won't be able to play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Johnson was injured during a game against the Green Bay Packers two weeks ago.
Johnson out against Colts
BY JOHN MARSHALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The swelling in Larry Johnson's injured right foot is subsiding, though not enough for the Kansas City Chiefs running back to play this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Johnson, injured two weeks ago while being tackled from behind by Green Bay's A.J. Hawk, is scheduled to meet with a foot specialist on Monday. The team is still calling the injury a mid-foot sprain despite a report last week saying he had a broken foot.
The team ruled Johnson out for Sunday's game at Indianapolis and
Johnson rushed for more than 1,700 yards each of the previous two seasons and was starting to come around before the injury, going over 100 yards three times in five games after a slow start to the season. His injury forced the Chiefs to turn to Priest Holmes, who returned three weeks ago after missing two years with a spinal-cord injury.
said his condition will be evaluated each week.
"Obviously, you don't want to max him out," Edwards said Tuesday. "You don't want him to touch the ball over 30 times. That's too much. You're kidding yourself. We're not going to say all sudden you're getting 30 carries. We're just not going to do that."
Holmes looked good in his first full game last week, rushing for 65 yards on 20 carries in a 27-11 loss to Denver, though Chiefs coach Herm Edwards isn't ready to put the full load of Kansas City's offense on his shoulders.
That means Holmes, a three-time Pro Bowler, will likely share carries with rookie Kolby Smith, who had two yards on two carries against Denver.
Both backs have a more shifty style than the power-running Johnson, which led the Chiefs to dig a little deeper into their playbook last week.
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>> NFL
Constant quarterback search
By JOHN MARSHALL
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Brodie Coyle plays the ball during an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Kansas City, Mo. Denver won the game 27-11.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trent Green played for three teams before arriving in Kansas City. Elvis Grbac was a castoff from San Francisco.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Montana? He ensured his spot in the Hall of Fame long before arriving at Arrowhead Stadium. Even Kansas City icon Len Dawson spent five seasons as a backup in Pittsburgh and Cleveland before leading the Chiefs to their only Super Bowl, and himself to Canton.
Throughout Chiefs history, back to the day Lamar Hunt founded the Dallas Texans in 1960, one common thread runs through: The team's best quarterbacks have come from somewhere else.
The Chiefs hope that trend will finally end with Brodie Croyle, who will make his first career start Sunday at Indianapolis.
"He's a guy we drafted, a guy we said at the end of the day we need to find out if he can play quarterback," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said Tuesday, a day after announcing Croyle will start in place of Damon Huard. "Well, now it's his turn. We're going to find out the next seven weeks."
arm, but if a quarterback can't read NFL defenses or doesn't have that mental edge to push himself and his teammates, chances are he'll never live up to the potential his body provides.
drafting-a-quarterback thing right, rarely using high draft picks on quarterbacks, ending up with players such as Mike Elkins and Dave Jaynes when they did.
Drafting a great quarterback — or even a solid one — has never been easy.
Too often, teams become enamored of physical attributes of a quarterback and don't pay attention to the intangibles separating greatness from mediocritic. It's one thing to have size, speed and a strong
Kansas City's most glaring error came during the great quarterback draft of 1983, when the team
HERM EDWARDS Coach
The Chiefs have yet to get this
"It's very hard in this league and that's why teams are always searching for a quarterback," Edwards said. "If you look at the teams that have been successful over the years and have been on top, they've got a good quarterback now, that triggerman's a pretty good player."
That's why the list of first-round busts — Tim Couch, Akill Smith, Ryan Leaf — seems so much longer than the list of first-round stars.
"It's very hard in this league and that's why teams are always searching for a quarterback."
passed on Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, using the seventh overall pick instead on career underachiever Todd Blackledge.
So instead of utilizing the draft, the Chiefs have tried for that quick fix.
plugging in veteran quarterbacks who already know the nuances of the NFL and won't make the mistakes of inexperience.
The plan has worked at times, with Green, Montana and Dawson having their share of success in a Chiefs uniform. But it's come at the expense of developing young quarterbacks.
"There's always been somewhat of a void there and consequently the quick fix takes care of that; there's been a lot of patchwork
that's been done," said Lynn Stiles, Kansas City's vice president of football operations. "It's nobody's fault, it's just a situation that's existed. It takes time to get your own guy."
The Chiefs would like to think they finally have that guy in Croyle. Kansas City used a third-round draft pick last year to get Croyle. Alabama's all-time passing leader, marking the first time since 1989 (when they took Elkins) the Chiefs picked a quarterback above the fourth round. The change in strategy comes in large part from Edwards, who's turned to youth in his second year of rebuilding the Chiefs.
"We have to find out about these young players that you draft. That's why you draft them," Edwards said. "You can't keep baby-sitting them and say when he's a five-year player, he's going to play. We don't do that. They're going to play."
Croyle seemed poised for his chance at the start of training camp. But Croyle struggled through most of the preseason, so the Chiefs opened with Huard, a career backup who played well after Green was injured in the first game of last season.
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Huard was a steadying influence on Kansas City's sputtering offense through the first eight games this year, but even as the starter he shared reps with Croyle in practice, a good indication the Chiefs would likely be making a switch.
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The change came Monday, when Edwards turned to Croyle, hoping to spark an offense that's tied for 30th in scoring. Croyle certainly has the tools: a strong arm, mobility, quick release. It'll take time to see if he has those slightly less evident traits needed to succeed.
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