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Posted on Sun, Oct. 25, 2009

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Nobody safe in KC

By KENT BABB

Kansas City Star

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Derrick Johnson is pacing in a hallway, trying to find the words. He says he has no idea where he stands with the Chiefs. He didn't watch television on Tuesday because that was the NFL's trade deadline. He couldn't relax on his day off at the same time he was worrying about his future.

Johnson wasn't traded. It is less than 24 hours after the deadline passed, and emotions are taking hold. Anger and confusion pinch hardest.

"You don't really know," he says, barely above a whisper. "I know I'm right for this defense. I'm right for this team. I'm versatile. I can fit in any kind of defense, really. I don't know, man. I don't know."

Johnson doesn't know because the Chiefs don't want him to know. He was demoted weeks ago. A few injuries. A few weak practices. Down to third-string at linebacker he went, no explanation provided. The team doesn't want players to feel comfortable with their roster spots or their ownership of a starting job. They want players to do precisely what Johnson is doing: walking around without answers, but determined to uncover them and improve enough that the Chiefs have no choice but to play him.

Johnson says he'd like to think he fits the profile of what the Chiefs are looking for as they build for the future. This season is important, but as important as anything is building a roster that coach Todd Haley says consists of the "right 53" players. Haley says that's more important to him than having the most talented group. Fitness, belief and work ethic are the equalizers; skill is the separator.

Still, specifics are not provided to players, only the notion that if a man will not or cannot do his job the way Haley and his staff require, then the Chiefs will find those who will and can. The roster already has been through a cleansing process. It's not finished.

"One day, the right 53 might include you," tight end Sean Ryan says. "The next day, it might not."

"No matter how good you are," wide receiver Dwayne Bowe says, "if you're doing it right, you might have a chance."

"You'd better not take your position on this team for granted," outside linebacker Mike Vrabel says. "We're all here right now. That could change daily and weekly. These guys, they're not going to stop."

As the Chiefs advance into a season that seems equal parts an effort in improvement and a telling social experiment, the pile of casualties is growing. Third-year defensive lineman Tank Tyler was traded to Carolina on Monday. He had potential, but the Chiefs believe upgrades are available.

"There are guys out there," Haley says, "that are better, we think, than what we have."

Players who don't fit Haley's version of perfection are ridiculed, threatened, issued final chances, and then given up on — not always in such an orderly fashion. What remains is an agonizing existence for some players, who watch as their teammates pack their things and depart Chiefs headquarters.

On this day, Johnson leans against a wall in a quiet corridor.

"Coach definitely wants us to be strong-minded," he says. "Sometimes, to get something done or to be successful, you've got to be uncomfortable."

He exhales.

"It's uncomfortable," he says.There are things that test Haley's patience and drive him all the way into a full-fledged rage, but he'd prefer to discuss the things he likes in a player.

The first is that he is willing to put the team above personal glory and achievement. Bowe had to learn that one during training camp. The flexing, dancing, cocky wideout was told to tone down the act — unless he preferred to take that act to the road. Starters must be willing to teach backups and tutor reserves — even if that means increasing the possibility of the teacher someday losing his job to a student.

"Some guys aren't wired that way," Haley says, and he's willing to part ways with those players.

Another is for players to follow instructions, even if they don't immediately make sense or cater to their skills. Ryan signed with the Chiefs as a veteran blocking tight end. He met with Haley, who had other plans, and now Ryan is known more as a receiving option.

"Whatever kind of tight end it's going to be," Ryan remembers thinking, "I'm going to prove to them I can do it all."

But the tallest challenge for Haley has been establishing a philosophy that injuries, which he says are occasionally unavoidable, are sometimes viewed as a sign of weakness. Free safety Jarrad Page faced doubts after he suggested during the preseason that an injury should keep him out of the Chiefs' third exhibition game. Johnson has endured several nagging injuries that kept him on the sideline during practices and threatened his job security.

Haley has made it clear that the way players react to injuries might determine their futures in Kansas City. If players nurse their wounds too long or report minor issues as long-lasting problems, Haley takes mental notes.

"Always show that you're a guy that wants to be here," Haley says, "who won't look for ways out of practice but will look for ways in."

Haley says it's about toughness. That if players rise above aches and confront even significant injuries, it builds a kind of mental toughness that other teams envy. He says the best teams are made up of players who detest the idea of spending a day on the rehab field. The Chiefs' training room has been stripped of luxuries, and Haley says it's designed to make it feel less like a lounge and more like a prison cell. Haley said his vision for progress is a day when the rehab field is empty.

Johnson says now that players have learned to hide their injuries. For better or worse, they downplay minor health concerns because of how the opposite reaction might be interpreted. When Johnson hurt his groin this month, he remembers pedaling on a stationary bike and coming to a startling realization.

"Damn," he says, "I'm the only one. Nobody's limping out there."

Whether it's because of improved conditioning, good luck or fear of Haley's wrath, the Chiefs' injury report the last month has looked bare. When the final report was released before the Chiefs' game against the New York Giants, the Giants listed 12 injured players compared with the Chiefs' two. A week later, Dallas listed nine injured players to the Chiefs' three. Last week, Washington listed seven players and the Chiefs listed three.

"You've got to practice to play, and that's the way it is," Haley says. "We've made it clear to them that it's not going to be tolerated."