Battle has fought his last , in KC red.Tonight is a New Game!

Julian Battle, his last battle was to become consistant in the defensive backfield. He lost. The four year veteran who had just rehabed the achilles tendon tear that he aquired last year, has been sent riding off into the sunset. Still a hero in his own eyes tho', perhaps just over that next hill he will find a new range to roam, with another team. Oh, he was/is brilliant at times, just not enough times, according to Coach Herm Edwards.

Coach has built better plans for this new Chiefs backfield. Two players have been brought up as perhaps keys to this game tonight . Both rookie safeties Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page have become the talk of training camp. With their acrobatic timing and fierce hitting these two have dare we say, dominated. I dont know what all that says about our recievers, but these two are expected to play in perhaps all but the first series of tonights game at Houston. It should be a relatively easy test, with what the offense for the Texans is packing.
Herm Edwards wants to see consistancy- if you are playing against an All-Pro or an also-ran. If you are ahead by thirty or behind by three, his motto is the same: Do it once, then show me you can do it again, and again, and again, and then I’ll believe you can play. ----Battle couldn't.

Of Bernard Pollard, it is said he has shown a tremendous hunger for physical play, something this team is believed to have lacked in the secondary in recent years. He has the mindset of a linebacker. It has been said in the KC Star that, “Bernard Pollard is looking forward to this game,” Defensive cocordinator Gunther Cunningham said. “He’s like a caged lion out there. You can’t really hit people on your own team like he likes to hit people. I hope he gets a couple of those opportunities.” Pollard was the Chiefs’ second-round pick, so the immediate expectations for him were higher. The rookie is qouted as saying that his goal tonight is show that he can do more than just hit. “If I’m going to play, I need to do a lot more than that,” he said. “I want to show my coach and my teammates I can be an all-round safety.”
That is a Good Attitude!

While Jarrad Page has been working alongside Pollard he has been notso quietly noted as the defensive playmaker of this years spring training. He has been a real rover, all over the field... to intercept or break up any passes that come his way. "I’ve never seen a safety have seven interceptions (in training camp) like Jarrad Page has had,” Cunningham said. “The things he has are range and instinct. I think it’s probably his baseball background. He plays it like a center fielder. He really breaks on deep balls.” Page may be that gem that Edwards has been searching for, he was was a seventh-round pick, the second safety drafted by the Chiefs. Today with Battle gone there is a hole in the defensive backfield and Page wants a starting safety spot. "All I can do is just go play and try to take advantage of the situation I’m in.” Well, he could go a along way toward earning that spot tonight. Watch him.

Coach Edwards held afternoon practice simulating a game as much as possible. A full team practice in pads. He took everyone through gametime scenarios like the offense coming on the field after kickoffs. Then he called for the punt team after all third downs. He brought in the field goal unit. As well, he opened up the playbook and ran through all of the various personnel packages- with pertainent changes for the many different sets. Edwards even had the players line up on the sideline to simulate the National Anthem!
Edwards, smells the popcorn! So do I!
This should be a fun game.

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