Projo Sports Blog

By Adam Teicher
Kansas City Star

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Chiefs rookie cornerback Brandon Flowers has a good idea of what his day will involve on Sunday. He imagines spending much time running down the field along with Randy Moss or Wes Welker and then turning to see Tom Brady throwing passes their way.

Just as it was when the Arizona Cardinals attacked him during the preseason - except this time, the opponent is New England and this game actually counts.

"Usually, most guys go after rookies, so I've got to make plays early to let them know I'm ready," said Flowers, a quick study if nothing else. "It wouldn't surprise me at all. That Arizona game was good for me the way they came at me. It won't just hit me in the mouth when we go to New England if they go at me a lot."

It's a rite of passage for rookie cornerbacks. They don't truly become veterans until an opponent has tried to pick on them at least a time or two.

Coach Herm Edwards faced it in 1977 when he was a rookie starting cornerback for Philadelphia. Edwards went against Joe Namath and Harold Jackson of the Rams in his second NFL game, and they tried to work him over.

Edwards at least opened his NFL career against the then-woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Flowers and the Chiefs' other rookie cornerback, Brandon Carr, don't get such an easy debut.

Flowers won some of his battles against Arizona with Kurt Warner at quarterback and Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald at wide receiver. He also lost a few, just as he did during his training-camp clashes with Dwayne Bowe.

But Warner isn't Brady, who threw 50 touchdown passes last season. Moss caught 23 of them, and Welker had 112 receptions.

"Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Tom Brady, they're all at the top of their game," Flowers said. "What's a better way to start the season? I'll see where I'm at. I think I'll be ready. I like to take on challenges.

"There's nothing to be nervous about. I've just got to play like I know I can play."

Carr, who comes into the game when the Chiefs need a third cornerback, freely acknowledged his nerves.

"I was lying in bed last night and I had butterflies," said Carr, who played in college at Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan. "That's never happened to me before. I figure that's a good sign. It's a good nervousness. I guess that means it's for real now. Every game counts, whether it's New England and Randy Moss or somebody else.

"You grew up idolizing these players, and now you've got to play against them."

Patrick Surtain, the only veteran among the Chiefs' five cornerbacks, has by default taken on the role of mentor to Flowers and Carr. He saw their eyes get big in the meeting room on Monday when defensive backs coach David Gibbs popped in a DVD of Moss and Welker for the first time.

"Nothing they have seen can measure up to Randy Moss' speed," Surtain said. "He runs right by people, and Brady puts the ball right on the money. You've got to be prepared for that.

"Hopefully, they will be prepared for that. They'll see up close what they've been seeing on TV: Brady to Moss. I'm going to try my best to get them prepared, but at the same time, I'm going to get myself prepared."

Brady missed the preseason amid reports he has a broken bone in his foot. But he's practiced all week and should play against the Chiefs, though the Patriots haven't said so definitively.

"It really doesn't matter that he hasn't played in the preseason," said Surtain, who with Miami once played regularly against Brady. "I'm pretty sure he knows the offense like the back of his hand. Preseason for guys like that, him and Peyton Manning, really doesn't matter. They're going to come out and be at their best either way.

"You can't go into a game thinking Tom Brady is going to be rusty. It's my duty to talk to these guys about that, to expect New England's best from the very first play. They say Tom Brady hasn't played in the preseason, but that doesn't matter. He's Tom Brady. He'll be on his game."

Flowers and Carr handled themselves well in preseason and training camp, but they wouldn't be the first rookie cornerbacks to melt when the regular season begins. Even Surtain, who watched them every day in practice, is eager to see how they fare against Moss and Welker.

"They're competitive guys," Surtain said. "They're going to go out there and fight.

"We're going to find out. Brandon Carr, coming from Grand Valley State, hasn't played against this caliber of competition. They handled themselves pretty well in the preseason, so we'll see if that continues."

 Tags  Kansas City Chiefs New England Patriots

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