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Romeo Crennel’s first act as Chiefs head coach last December was to name Kyle Orton as the new starting quarterback. In making the announcement, Crennel expressed plenty of confidence that Orton could help the Chiefs win.
Crennel is now on the verge of making another quarterback change, this one forced by the concussion to Matt Cassel. Crennel didn’t sound on Monday as confident in Brady Quinn, the probable starter in Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers in Tampa, as he was in Orton.
“Kyle is a more experienced guy,’’ Crennel said. “This is a different scenario and a different situation. I know Brady will be ready to play, and Brady is going to do everything he can to help this team win.’’
Having given that less-than-resounding endorsement, Crennel and the Chiefs on Monday began the process of making the quarterback switch. Even at that, Crennel wasn’t ready to declare that Cassel was out for Sunday’s game.
“Not totally, but just from what I’ve seen about concussions, they can be difficult,’’ Crennel said. “The individual is the thing. Some individuals recover faster than others. With the emphasis on concussions in the league, they’re making sure we do due diligence on the player’s health and making sure he’s not rushed back.
“They’re going to run several tests to see where he is. Generally, concussions are not good, but we’re concerned about the safety and welfare of the player and we’re going to give him an opportunity to get well. In the meantime, Brady Quinn has to get ready to play, and Ricky Stanzi has to be ready to play.’’
Still, the Chiefs began crafting the offensive plan for next Sunday’s game with Quinn as their quarterback. It presumably will be a little different than the plan for Sunday’s 9-6 loss to Baltimore, one in which the Chiefs tried 50 running plays but only 18 passes.
“We have to look at the strength of every player we’re going to play in the game. The things Brady does well, we have to tilt the game plan toward those things. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be very good coaches.’’
The Chiefs won’t have their first practice session of the week until Wednesday. Tight end Tony Moeaki said he didn’t think the transition from Cassel to Quinn would be complicated.
“We did all that work with him in training camp, and he takes reps in practice,’’ Moeaki said. “So we’ll be comfortable if Brady has to go and we’ll make it work.’’
