While the Chiefs have not come out and officially released the injury status of quarterback Matt Cassel and wide receiver Devard Darling, sources are saying Cassel could miss a month and Darling will be gone for the year.
Jason Cole of Yahoo is saying he was told by sources with the Chiefs that Cassel has a strained MCL. The injury will keep him out 2 to 4 weeks. Cassel suffered his injury on the third play of the game.
Mike Fiori of Pro Football Talk is reporting that Darling has a torn ACL, an injury that will knock him out for the season.
This is not what the Chiefs needed. They only have two offensive touchdowns in three games. It appears until Cassel returns, the team will be in the hands of Brodie Croyle who did not play on Saturday. Head coach Todd Haley wanted to give Tyler Thigpen an extended look.
Chiefs mum on injuries
Bulger throws for first time
Rams quarterback Marc Bulger threw for the first time on Sunday morning since he suffered a fractured pinkie finger back on August 17 th while taking a snap. His availability for this Thursday’s game against the Chiefs is still a question mark.
Head coach Steve Spagnuolo did not watch the throwing session. Bulger threw just 21 passes, but it was his first step in his return. From everything that I’m reading, it doesn’t look like Bulger will play in the Governor’s Cup against the Chiefs, but reports say he’s on schedule to start the season on September 13 th at Seattle.
I’m not sure have Bulger go in week one would be a good move. He’s had limited time to work with this West Coast style offense and hasn’t had any practice time to work on his timing with receivers. Meanwhile Kyle Boller looked better in his second game starting. Through the two games, Boller is 23 of 36 for 187 yards and while he hasn’t thrown a touchdown, he hasn’t turned the ball over either.
Here are Spagnuolo’s thoughts on Bulger.
(On if QB Marc Bulger will throw again tomorrow and if he will have an increased work load) "I think the plan is to see what it feels like tomorrow morning after having had the 21 throws and we’ll go from there."
(On if Bulger is building up for Thursday’s game vs. Kansas City or the regular-season opener against Seattle) "I guess it all depends on where he is. You’d like to build towards Thursday, but if he’s not ready, we’re not going to do that."
(On if Bulger took any snaps at practice) "No, no, no. We stayed away from that."
(On how Bulger’s status impacts some of the roster decisions he has to make in regards to Thursday’s game) "I don’t know if that particular spot will change anything. I mean, obviously (QB) Kyle (Boller) would go with that first group. We’ll see how far we’re going to go with the so-called ‘ones’. I don’t know that it would change too much."
(On if he will leave the ones in a little bit longer if Bulger plays on Thursday) "You mean if he plays under the circumstances now and he went? Yeah, that might change a little bit, but I think we will stick with whatever we decide as a play number for the rest of the crew. I think we will stick to that."
Senator says DNR can help move review process along
A state senator leading the review of the Department of Natural Resources decision to withhold information about contamination at the Lake of the Ozarks insists he’s not out to investigate DNR and is ready to wrap up work if DNR will cooperate.
Sen. Brad Lager (R-Savannah), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Consumer Protection, Energy and Environment Committee , is quick to precisely frame what he believes his committee’s role is.
“This is not a criminal proceeding, this is a legislative inquiry to make sure that we have responsible public policy in place to insure the health and public safety of our citizens is at the highest level possible,” Lager tells the Missourinet.
Lager says DNR’s General Counsel has hampered the work of the committee by injecting himself into the process. According to Lager, committee staff hasn’t been able to conduct routine interviews or gather certain information, because of the DNR General Counsel. He says that has delayed the review. Lager says DNR Director Mark Templeton has stepped in to help and the process has become smoother.
DNR officials have been accused of holding on to information about elevated levels of E. coli found in coves at the Lake of the Ozarks in May. Several samples taken from the Lake on May 26th disclosed elevated levels of the bacteria. They were ready for release three days later, but weren’t made public for four weeks. DNR has been accused of withholding the information, because the state feared it would hurt tourism at one of Missouri’s prime attractions.
Lager sees the committee reviewing why DNR withheld the information for four weeks and considering changes in state law to prevent a recurrence
Lager says the committee needs to answer some basic questions, “Does DNR need to send those test results to the Department of Health within two days of getting them, or something like that? Are there additional steps or is there a change that needs to happen in the public policy process to insure this unfortunate situation that happened in May and June doesn’t happen again?”
During a meeting via conference call on Friday, several Republican committee members expressed the worry that the committee’s work will appear to be partisan; a Republican legislature going after a Democratic administration. Lager says he believes that if the committee is open about its working, it can remove any such impressions.
DNR, responding to a request by committee staff, has forwarded 200,000 e-mails to the committee. Staff is combing through the electronic correspondence as well as sifting through other material. Lager says he wants the staff to do the initial legwork before the committee meets at the Capitol in Jefferson City to conduct a formal hearing.
Lager refuses to place a deadline on the committee’s work. He says the length of the inquiry depends greatly on DNR’s cooperation.
Preparing to count everybody
The state is making a special effort to make a special effort in next year’s census.
The Complete County Committee is organizing state and local efforts to make sure everybody is counted in the 2010 census. Twenty-six community leaders are on the committee, chaired by Commissioner of Administration Kelvin Simmons. Simmons says a lot is riding on the census numbers, making it essential everybody is counted.
The federal government uses population to determine how much federal money to send to state programs and services. The committee cites estimates that Missouri will lose $1.3 million in the next decade for every 100 people who escape the census takers’ efforts.
Simmons says it’s also important to find everybody to avoid losing a seat in the United States House. Missouri is growing, but not as rapidly as some other states that could gain seats at Missouri’s expense. The actual count begins next Spring.
Information about the committee’s efforts to organize the state and local efforts is available through the Complete Count Committee Web site .
Grienke’s one hitter shuts down M’s
Zack Greinke pitched a complete game one hitter while allowing just one walk and five strikeouts as he picked up his 13th win of the season and lowered his AL best ERA to 2.32 as the Royals beat Seattle 3-0.
Seattle’s lone hit came from catcher Kenji Johjima in the second inning with two outs after Bill Hall walked earlier in the inning. Greinke would then go on to retire the final 22 batters.
David DeJesus and Miguel Olivo singled in runs. Olivo would come around to score
after bringing in Albert Callaspo who doubled to start the inning. Mitch Maier
also walked and later scored in the three run fifth.
