4B
SPORTS
NFL
THE UNIVERSITY'S DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
Chiefs looking for first win of the preseason
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley directs his team during NFL football training camp in River Falls, Wis. The Chiefs are looking for their first win of the year when they play on Thursday. Haley fired off defensive coordinator Chan Gailay on Monday leave playing calls up in the air.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
It'll be a little different for the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night in St. Louis against the Rams.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Here's how the final preseason game usually plays out: the starters hang around the sideline yukking it up in baseball caps while players most people have never heard of battle for the final roster spots.
Coaches and the most diehard of fans love it. Might as well be a sandlot game for most everyone else.
The Chiefs need to figure out wholl open the season at quarterback Starter Matt Cassel is out
with an injury they won't talk about and neither Brodie Crowle nor Tyler Thippe has distinguished himself as a clear-cut favorite.
sive coordinator Chan Gailey on Monday, 13 days before the season opener, and will take over an offense that's scored two touchdowns all preseason. That leaves one dress rehearsal before the juggling act becomes real.
There's the issue of play-calling, Coach Todd Haley offer-
And, even though it's just a pre-season game, the Chiefs could use a victory. They haven't won a game of any kind in nine months and have just six the past two years.
"Every time you go out there,you go out there to prove something."
A final tuneup? More like making the sure car can just get out of
BRODIE CROYLE
Chiefs quarterback
the garage.
"All of the pieces are pretty big right now as we get down to the wire," Haley said. "Every day is an evaluation. We've got to lean on everything we know and in the next couple of days we'll learn some more."
The biggest piece is quarterback.
An afterthought headed into the season, Croyle has been the Chiefs' most consistent quarterback through training camp and the preseason. His biggest problem? Kansas City still hasn't scored a touchdown with him under center.
That leaves Croyle and Thigpen, who are a combined 1-18 as starting quarterbacks.
Cassel injured his left knee against Seattle on Saturday and won't play against the Rams. Beyond that? No one's saying. He could be back for the season opener against Baltimore, could be out two more weeks maybe more.
to completely retool the offense for him; he's not the prototypical drop-back style passer. Thippen had an uneven preseason, making a few careless mistakes but also leading the Chiefs on a late scoring drive against Houston in the second preseason game.
Croyle opened last season as the starter, anointed by former coach Herm Edwards as the homegrown quarterback the Chiefs had been missing for years. He injured his shoulder in the season opener against New
Thipken had some success last season, using his athleticism to create plays, though the Chiefs had
England, then suffered a season ending knee injury his first game back in October.
Croyle has a slight edge and gets the start against St. Louis, though Haley is going to play it by ear how long he plays. In other words, this final preseason game
"Every time you go out there, you go out there to prove something." Croyle said. "This is no different."
Haley will certainly experience something new.
has a lot hanging on it.
Frustrated with the play calling and maybe a little anny to be more involved with the offense — he was the offensive coordinator at Arizona — Haley fired Galley
and took over his duties. He's still trying to learn all the nuances of being a head coach and now has another ball in the air.
Haley has three assistants who have been offensive coordinators
— Maurice Carthon, Bill Muir and Bill Bicknell — so no doubt he'll be leaning on them as he get his feet set.
There's a lot riding on it, even if it is just a preseason game.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo is happy to reunite with James Butler, new Rams strong safety. Spagnuolo and Worked worked together previously for the New York Giants.
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NFL
Rams working on defensive mindset
ST. LOUIS — Steve Spagnuolo knew what he was getting when strong safety James Butler signed with the St. Louis Rams: Both worked for the New York Giants the previous two seasons.
"Our personality will be to stop the run and pressure the passer," Butler said. "We try to implement that in practice. We pick up every ball on the ground. We practice
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"It's always good when you get an opportunity to obtain a player that you are familiar with;" Spagnuolo said. "James has an understanding of our defensive system and is a valuable addition to our team."
The 6-iot-3, 215-pound Butler signed a four-year deal after four years with the Giants, reuniting with new Rams coach Spagnuolo — his defensive coordinator the last two seasons in New York.
The Rams defense ranked 30th last season. Butler is one of the pieces Spagnuolo wanted to create a new mindset for the defense.
Spagnolo is happy to have him with St. Louis.
stripping the ball to cause fumbles every day. We just want to be a turnover-hungry defense. We want to be aggressive."
He has played well in the three preseason games. The Rams play their preseason finale 'Thursday night when the Kansas City Chiefs come to St. Louis.
The defense created four turnovers in a 24-21 victory over Cincinnati in the third preseason game. Butler even scored a touchdown in the win, scooping up a fumble and galloping 73 yards to the end zone.
"I was a little worried Butler wasn't going to make it at the end," Spagnuolo joked.
"I'll tell you what, that was a long drive; the offense had a good drive against us there," Butler said. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I got a lot of great blocks."
Butler had a breakout year in 2008. He recorded a career-high 14 starts last season and played in 15 games while setting career highs with 76 tackles (45 solo) and three interceptions.
Butler agreed.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL New Quarterback at Missouri transitions
"I'm glad that every time since I've been here that we've gotten a new quarterback, it's always been a concern of everyone," coach Gary Pinkel said. "That means the guy before played well "well."
COLUMBIA, Mo. — After four years with Brad Smith at quarterback and three with Chase Daniel, Missouri fans have grown accustomed to a lot of offense. So all eyes will be on sophmore Blaine Gabbert when the Tigers open the season against Illinois in St. Louis on Saturday.
That's something of an understatement.
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Dianel won 30 games over three seasons, led Missouri to two Big 12 championship game appearances and a brief stint at No.1 in the AP poll in November 2007.
Being next in line is no easy task. But Pinkel has confidence in Gabbert, who was among the nation's most heavily recruited quarterbacks when he came out of Parkway West High School in suburban St. Louis.
"Blaine's a very talented guy with a great work ethic," Pinkel said. "Youth or lack of experience to me is absolutely insignificant."
Gabbert, though, will face a little more pressure on national television
"My family is all coming in for the game," Gabbert said. "I just have to stay calm and relaxed."
Associated Press
experience but that's because we've had great backpackers in front of us. We hope to carry that on."
The offseason, as it always does, served as the training ground for players to either prove or disprove they were capable of filling one of the starting holes.
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
And both scenarios have played out on the practice field. The current starters on Kansas' depth chart are Dudley, junior Justin Springer and senior Arist Wright.
It's a point reflected in Miller's announcement that Kansas will play a heavy rotation of linebackers, especially in the early portion of the season.
"There been ups and downs," Miller said. "A couple of them have come further than I thought they would and some maybe have fallen short a step or two."
"There's not a guy that's just head and shoulders above the others," Miller said.
But, at the very least, there are plenty of interesting story lines.
Dudley is returning to the defensive side of things after spending time at fullback. Springer is recovering from an injury. He only recently began practicing again.
And Tharp is making a push for playing time as a freshman. Still, Mangino said, the unit as a whole has continued to progress from the start of practices.
"We have made a lot of progress since day one," Mangino said. "There's no question about that. I think those kids are starting to develop some confidence in knowing their assignments, getting their reads and getting where they are supposed to be in both the run and pass game."
All offseason, much attention has been given to the development and depth chart at linebacker. With the first game of the season quickly approaching, the speculation can cease.
Now it's time to fill the shoes of Kansas' previously successful line-backers.
"It's never been amazing athletes we've had at linebackers," Dudley said. "It's been a lot of hard workers who gave everything they had. And I think we have that."
Edited by Alicia Banister
NFL Broncos player will return for regular season play
"We're looking forward to having Brandon back on Sept. 6 and starting our preparations for Cincinnati with him," McDaniels said. "There's no discussions whatsoever taking place between the Denver Broncos and any team in the NFL regarding Brandon Marshall."
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Moving to quell rumors, Denver coach Josh McDaniels said Wednesday the team had not held any talks involving a trade of suspended Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
Marshall, who has participated in only a handful of practices during the offseason, has clashed with the organization since the team rebuffled his overtures for a new contract and did not act on his request for a trade.
There were reports the New York Jets would be interested in trading for him.
McDaniels suspended Marshall for the rest of the preseason last Friday for detrimental conduct stemming for insubordinate actions during a practice.
The end of his suspension coincides with the Broncos' week of preparations for their Sept. 13 opener at Cincinnati.
Associated Press
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