Thursday Thigpennery, Theismannage

The throes of November leave many a question in the mailbox of the Kansas City Chiefs, and perhaps the top three would be the following: 1) How will the return of Larry Johnson factor into the "new look" of the Chiefs offense; Will Tyler Thigpen be able to continue the level of play he's demonstrated in the past three weeks; and 3) How will the Kansas City defense, injury-plagued as it is, handle the high-powered Saints offense this Sunday at Arrowhead? Bad attempts to answers these questions, and not much more, after the jump.

1) Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star has an article in today's paper on Johnson being back at practice. The overall vibe was that things were quite in all aspects LJ. Even the back himself kept quiet in the running backs room, and slipped out without speaking to the media. Teicher, however, was able to nab Thigpen for some commentary.

"Larry's not bringing all of that...I guess you wouldn't say 'baggage' or whatever, but he hasn't brought any of that into the locker room with him," Thigpen said. "All he's brought is a good attitude and a willingness to work.

It's definitely going to help our offense having him back. He gives us another threat out there."

2) When local sports talk station KCSP said good-bye to this fine lad, I quit listening for a while, and have yet to return to my once-day-filled tune-innage. In the mighty DA's place is this dingleheimer, and I tuned in to a portion of his program this morning. Apparently, he brings fellow doodleschnitz Joe Theisman on the air every week to discuss the state of the Chiefs. I have to admit, it was a pretty good segment; Theisman sounded much more intelligent, and way less into himself than I've ever heard him sound from the broadcast booth.

He talked about the Chiefs quarterback and made the point that those that play the position depend on more people to do their jobs than any other, i.e. the o-line to block, the receivers to catch, the tailbacks to deliver balance to the passing game, etc. And his point, I think, was that that makes it crucial for the quarterback to do theirs, which he added that that is exactly what Thigpen has done. He also spoke of Johnson's return to the squad, but first offered props to Chiefs O.C. Chan Gailey for sort of redefining an effective offense without Johnson in the mix for a month. Then he said with the preface "I'm a guy that believes that leopards don't change their spots. Plaxico Burress is who he is. Adam Jones is who he is. Terrell Owens will always be Terrell Owens," the point being that new environments don't change these guys. He added that character comes out not in times of glory and success, but in tough times, and finally he said he'd "go out on a limb" and suggest that Johnson recognizes his situation and will now bring what he can to this team to help it win games.

3) Finally, Theisman suggested that the Chiefs have the perfect coach for trying to earn a win with as many injuries as Kansas City has on defense. He said, with a token "that's a credit to the coaching staff, the front office, and the organization" that this team looks impressive in terms of building a strong, quality football game that will one day win a lot of games. He's noted that players in the secondary, are trying (and with some success) to bring the play into the field, as in towards the center of the gridiron, a practice that makes teammate assistance in tackling and coverage much more accessible. Theisman suggested that this is tough for safeties and corners to do because they all want to get on SportsCenter for delivering a massive hit, for crushing a guy. The problem with that, though, is that the fundamentals of tackling are abandoned, and big runs down the sidelines often result.

Theisman suspected that all of the new members recently signed by the Chiefs will do just fine filling in, and that he likes this matchup against the Saints. In the middle of all this, he made countless golf references, and talked way too much about drivers with the show's host, but all in all, it was an educated, well-articulated assessment. Way to go, Joe.