RIVER FALLS, Wis. (AP) -The Kansas City Chiefs final training camp in River Falls has been a hit.
Attendance through the first four days of camp has been up slightly, with several hundred fans attending each practice. It’s hard to see the players at times and they’re constantly having to move to get a better view, but the fans keep coming out, many covered head to toe in their Chiefs regalia.
“There are a number of people who have basically taken their summer vacation to be up here and with this being our final year, we’ve seen more folks that have been up here early on in camp,” Chiefs President Denny Thum said Tuesday. “We have such great, die-hard Chiefs fans and the opportunity to experience River Falls, if they hadn’t in the past, they’re taking doing it now.”
redits from the state of Missouri, part of which will help finance a new indoor training facility at Missouri Western.
The move makes sense not just financially – there’ll be lower travel costs, too – but will allow more fans from the Kansas City area a chance to see the team practice.
“It’s been a great experience, but unfortunately sometimes a lot of good things come to an end,” Thum said. “I think moving the training camp back closer to Kansas City to be closer to our Chiefs fans is going to be very beneficial for us.”
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DORSEY RETURNS: Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey finally got a chance to practice.
After three days in what coach Todd Haley calls no man’s land, Dorsey put on the pads and joined his teammates on the practice field Tuesday.
“My leg’s sore, but I’m just taking it one day at a time and see how it does tomorrow,” Dorsey said. “I’ve just got to keep working on my leg. The stronger the leg, the more reps I get, the better off I’ll be.”
Dorsey spent the first three days at the corner of the practice field, riding stationary bikes, carrying weights around, winding up weighted tackling dummies like fishing line. The conditioning work is hard – and not much fun – but it could take Dorsey only so far toward getting him into shape.
ng through the drills, no matter how hard you’re working, it’s still not football. He’s still going to need a few days of football, but he didn’t look too bad out there for the first day.”
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NO REST FOR THE INJURED: Linebacker Derrick Johnson returned after two days out of pads and made some stellar plays, including one during goal-line drills.
It’s exactly what the coaches expected.
When a player comes back to practice, no one’s going to take it easy on them. If they’re out there, they’re expected to make plays – or head back to the conditioning corner.
The coaches will keep an eye on the older players to make sure they don’t get worn out and watch players who are nursing injuries. Mostly, though, they expect everyone to go full speed, every play.
“Generally, our philosophy is that you’re either practicing or you’re not,” Haley said. “So the guys on the field, they’re practicing.”
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LOOSE BALLS: MLB Zach Thomas started out in pads, but was sent to the conditioning area with an injury. “It didn’t appear that he was going to be able to (continue), so he was sent over to no man’s land,” Haley said. … RB Kolby Smith, TE Brad Cottam, LB Demorrio Williams and S DaJuan Morgan were still out of pads. They were joined in no man’s land by LB Weston Dacus, G Darryl Harris and G Wade Smith. … Rookie RB Javarris Williams was taped to one of the goal posts at the end of practice by a group of veterans. His offense? Being a rookie.
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