River Falls Recap – Monday, 8/6, PM Practice

Monday, August 6, 2007 - Afternoon practice, 3:53 PM - 5:11 PM

QUICK HITS –

Dwayne Bowe has officially arrived. Today he was on “Team Priest,” running with Holmes and Jason Dunn before practice. Afterwards he was wrapped in cellophane by Eddie Kennison and duct taped to a goalpost. Kennison and fullback Boomer Grigsby then dumped an entire tub of ice-cold Gatorade down the front of Bowe’s uniform.

Left tackle Damion McIntosh suffered a right knee injury midway through practice. He was carted off the field and did not return. Head coach Herm Edwards referred to the injury as a sprain. Will Svitek and Herb Taylor rotated at left tackle in his absence.

Defensive line coach Tim Krumrie doesn’t let up on his guys one iota. Today he was preaching about the need for his players to stay out of the neutral zone again. Gunther Cunningham visited the defensive line drills again early in the afternoon practice and demonstrated technique one-on-one with Krumie for a brief moment.

Alfonso Boone sat out the afternoon practice. He was replaced by rookie defensive tackle Tank Tyler.

Guard Chris Bober sat out again, and has a mild hip problem according to Herm Edwards.

PLAYS OF THE DAY

Greg Wesley might be wearing a different uniform when the regular season starts, but he can still play. The veteran safety picked off Casey Printers in 11-on-11 drills and was sailing on his way to the end zone when the whistle blew. Printers bootlegged out and unwisely tried to hit Michael Allan.

Chris Hannon’s talent is a beautiful thing to watch when you finally see it. Today in one-on-one receiver vs. cornerback drills he flew off the line of scrimmage, raced past cornerback Tyron Brackenridge and hauled in a long touchdown pass about 40 yards downfield. He had at least three yards of separation when the ball arrived.

The same drill in which Hannon toasted Brackenridge showed fans why the Chiefs signed cornerback Will Poole. In defense of rookie Ean Randolph, Poole stayed stride for stride with the receiver down the sideline and batted away a deep pass at the last second.

Jarrad Page blankets Antonio Gates in the regular season, and on Monday he blanketed Tony Gonzalez on one great play in 11-on-11 drills. The safety stuck to Gonzalezes’ hip like glue on a 15-yard corner route and plucked Damon Huard’s pass from the air as if he was the intended receiver.

WHO’S HOT

Tony Gonzalez may have been bested by Page on the aforementioned play, but he had an incredible practice this afternoon. The veteran tight end caught five passes, including a 25-yard strike down the middle from Brodie Croyle and a leaping grab on an errant screen pass thrown by Damon Huard. Near the end of practice he jumped high in the right corner of the end zone and hauled in a touchdown pass from Croyle. He may only practice once a day, but that’s all he needs.

Rod Gardner continues to impress. I was skeptical early in camp, but I’m driving his bandwagon now that Nick Athan is back in Kansas City. Today he caught three passes, including an acrobatic diving grab near the sideline. He also flashed some after-the-catch skills on another catch, making a move to get free.

The wide receivers overall had a very good day. Jeff Webb caught a couple of nice passes, Brad Ekwerekwu made a diving, rolling catch in 11-on-11’s and Samie Parker only dropped one pass. In fact, Parker made a very tough catch at one point, with cornerback Patrick Surtain draped all over him on a sideline comeback route.

Both quarterbacks were on target today. Damon Huard hit 13 of 17 passes that I witnessed. Other than the interception to Page, he was very sharp. Brodie Croyle was 9 of 15 according to my notes, but he had three passes dropped

WHO’S NOT

I’m down on tight end Michael Allan. I thought he was good value in the seventh round, but he’s shown hands of stone in training camp. Today he dropped at least two passes and I’ve been noticing it for the better part of a week now.

OVERHEARD:

“Run to the ball! Not trot. RUN!” – Defensive line coach Tim Krumrie, doing his thing.

“Dammit! Stay square! Let’s go!” – Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, instructing his defense to dig in after allowing a run up the middle.

“I have no circulation at all.”

“I guess I’m gonna be on the PUP the whole month.”

“I got $50,000 if you get me outta this!”

“Somebody give me a Snickers, I’m gonna be here for awhile.” - Rookie wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, lamenting his rookie hazing courtesy of Eddie Kennison.

“Have a good night.” - Kennison, wishing his fellow LSU receiver well after kissing him on the head.