Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel is leading workouts for teammates at a local high school this week, according to *The Kansas City Star.*
Tight end Brad Cottam and wide receivers Jerheme Urban and Dwayne Bowe were among the Chiefs players who showed up for some informal practice sessions. Urban has even been staying in Cassel's basement while he's in town.
NFL players are barred from entering team facilies or talking with coaches because of the lockout imposed by owners. Last Friday, players were permitted to go to work when a judge lifted the lockout for one day.
"It was a good, productive day for me," said Cassel, who spent four hours with new quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn and new offensive coordinator Bill Muir. "I got to see what subtle changes they were making to the offense, see what changed. I was able to put some things in the memory bank, and now I can go out and work on some of these things."
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the league a temporary stay of the injunction to end the lockout a day later, effectively resuming the work stoppage that prohibits teams from making contact with players.
Cassel believes the Chiefs are sticking to their normal routine, despite the labor situation.
"Usually, the last week of April or the beginning of May is when we start those individual days when we go on the field and really break down a specific route," Cassel said." (Offseason practice) didn't start last year until the middle of May or something like that. So I'm trying to stay on track with what we would normally be doing this time of year."
Cassel said some of the workouts have been awkward because of low attendance, but he's recruiting other teammates.
"So what I'm going to try to do is to get people to come back to town and get us really in the full swing of things and have everybody working out here," he said. "We're going to try to get a larger group of guys. We've had guys who have flown in, and they've stayed with me for a few days and we've gone out and done some field work and some throwing. That's been good for us to get that one-on-one time."
Cassel said backup quarterback Tyler Palko, running back Jamaal Charles and wide receiver Dexter McCluster indicated they also would participate in the coming weeks. Cassel also said he invited two Chiefs draft picks -- wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin and quarterback Ricky Stanzi -- to join the group.
"We're making arrangements trying to get them out here as well, even if they have to come out and stay with me for a few days," Cassel said. "I told (Baldwin) I'm excited he's with us. I told him to get settled and let everything kind of sink in and then get out here and start to get to work. That's going to be the biggest challenge is getting some of those younger guys up to speed because they're not going to be able to have the coaching and the extra time at the facility to go through the playbook. So they'll have to rely on myself and some of the other leaders as well."
