UpdatedAug 29, 2011 6:46 PM ETLAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP)Chester Taylor thought the Chicago Bears were releasing him onMonday. Turns out, he was wrong.The Bears' running back left team headquarters after aconversation with coach Lovie Smith thinking the team was cuttinghim. Agent Ken Sarnoff said that was simply a misunderstanding.''There has been a miscommunication between Lovie Smith andChester Taylor,'' Sarnoff said. ''At the moment, Chester is still aBear.''Smith expects Taylor to practice on Tuesday but would not say ifhe'll play Thursday, when Chicago closes out the preseason againstCleveland. He was clear about one thing, though.''If a player's released, I'll tell him that. `You're released;thank you.' That's not the case. Misunderstanding,'' Smithsaid.The Bears did waive defensive end Vernon Gholston and four otherplayers to put their roster at 80 ahead of Tuesday's deadline,bringing a quick end to a second chance for a former top 10 draftpick.Taken sixth overall by the New York Jets in 2008, Gholston wasreleased in March after failing to record a sack in three seasons.He signed a one-year deal with Chicago last month and did little inthree preseason games.The Bears still need to cut 27 players by Saturday to get to the53-man limit, and it remains to be seen if Taylor will wind up inthat group.His future has been the subject of speculation for a while now,and it ramped up when the Bears signed Marion Barber to a two-yearcontract late last month, adding him to the backup mix behind MattForte. The rumor picked up steam when he didn't play at Tennesseeon Saturday as the Bears instead went with Kahlil Bell after Barberleft the game with a calf injury.Smith said Taylor came to him Monday morning, and they discussedwhy he didn't play against the Titans. The reason? Smith said theBears wanted to get a look at other players.''Evidently he took that the wrong way,'' he said. ''Hopefullywe get him out here tomorrow.''He said he had no idea Taylor was going to leave the facilityand indicated he wasn't aware until practice.Asked if he told Taylor he wasn't part of the plan, Smith said,''No, I told him he wasn't a part of the plan (on Saturday). Italked on what happened the last game in a private conversationwith Chester, no more than that.''As far as what's going to happen later on, we have cuts comingup. We'll let everyone know who's a part of it; they'll knowthen,'' he said.The confusion with Taylor is just the latest odd episode in awild offseason for the Bears.There was a flurry of activity in free agency after the lockoutended, including a messy split with longtime center Olin Kreutzafter contract negotiations broke down, not to mention a botchedtrade with Baltimore in the first round of the draft.That deal fell apart because Chicago neglected to phone theleague to receive confirmation and the Ravens wound up picking27th. The Bears got the guy they wanted anyway, at No. 29, whenthey took offensive tackle Gabe Carimi, but they opted not to sendthe Ravens a draft pick even though Commissioner Roger Goodellurged them to do so.The Bears brought in Taylor to push Forte on a blockbuster dayin March 2010 in which they also landed Pro Bowl defensive endJulius Peppers and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna.Peppers is here to stay, of course, but Manumaleuna is gone.Taylor thought he was, too.He ran for just 267 yards last season and averaged a career-low2.4 per carry after leaving Minnesota for a four-year,$12.5-million with $7 million guaranteed, and the Bears seemed tobe sending a loud message his way when they brought in Barber.So when Sarnoff posted on Twitter on Monday that Smith hadinformed Taylor that he was being cut, that hardly seemedsurprising. Then the agent came back with a post Womens New England Patriots Jerseys saying the Bearshad informed him Taylor was still with the team.By then, teammates were talking as if Taylor were gone.Center Roberto Garza had called it ''a tough loss for us, butobviously, those guys are going to step up. (We) wish himwell.''And Bell said: ''It's always sad to see a fellow running backleave. I wouldn't say I'm happy about it. I don't think anybody is.But at the same time, all I can control is what I can control.That's all I plan on doing, is going out there and doing the best Ican.''Smith, however, was adamant: Taylor's still on the team.''Let me start this over again,'' he said. ''Chester Taylor hasnot been released. He was never told he was Patriots Jersey released. So what getsout, I can't stop that. But that's not the case. I guess if wordgets around and you don't know what happened, guys would assumethat's the case. You're hearing it from me right now - he has notbeen released. I never told him he was being released.''Notes: Smith said TE Desmond Clark suffered a bruised left kneeon a tackle by Titans S Anthony Smith while trying to make a catchon Saturday. He had to be carted off the field, and there is notimetable for his return. Smith also said he's not sure when Barberwill return. They are expected to sit out Thursday, as are LB LanceBriggs (knee) and Anthony Adams (calf). ... Besides Gholston, DTTank Tyler and NFL New England Patriots Jerseys three undrafted rookie free agents - QB TrevorVittatoe, C J.C. Brignone and LB Tanner Antle - were released.
Chiefs' Johnson finally reaching elite status
UpdatedAug 29, 2011 7:00 PM ETKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)(Eds: Updates. With AP Photos.)By DAVE SKRETTAAP Sports Writer Derrick Johnson remembers when he first walked into the Kansas City Chiefs' locker room. He was fresh out of Texas, carrying all the expectations that come with being a first-round draft pick, and there he was surrounded by a bunch of grizzled veterans.''Now that I look around,'' Johnson said this week, ''I'm one of the older guys on the team.''It's true. Johnson may only be 28 years old, but the middle linebacker is already entering his seventh season in the league. Only seven of the 89 players who the Chiefs brought to training camp have been in the NFL longer, and just two of them are on the defensive side of the ball.''I kind of figure I'm in the prime of my career right now, mentally and physically,'' said Johnson, who is coming off easily the best year of his career. ''Everything is clicking on all cylinders.''It took a while - six years, 90 games and countless headaches, to be exact.When he was picked 15th overall in the 2005 draft, many envisioned Johnson as the next Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs' late nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker who represented the perfect blend of speed and athleticism. Even though Thomas was more adept at rushing the quarterback and Johnson at dropping into pass coverage, the two seemed to be cast from the same mold.Thomas was 6-foot-3, 243 pounds in his prime. Johnson is 6-3, 242 right now.Most of those comparisons were borne out Johnson's rookie season, when he started all 16 games and made 80 tackles and a couple of sacks. But his numbers started to decline the following year, and by 2009 he started just three games for the Chiefs and made 26 tackles all season.Then something seemed to click last summer. Johnson couldn't quite put his finger on Patriots Jersey Youth it, but there was a sense of comfort in his second season under head coach Todd Haley, and first-year defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel - who has seen just about everything in his 40-year career - managed to get the best out of him from the moment they began working together.Johnson started all 16 games as the Chiefs went from also-rans to division champions, making a career high 94 tackles, forcing three fumbles and returning an interception for a touchdown.''You know, Derrick, like I've said, he did some really good things last year and he did some really good things in training camp,'' Haley said. ''But you know, I think Derrick can be even better, and that's the exciting thing for all of us. And I think he's shown some of that right now.''He certainly showed it Friday night against the St. Louis Rams, becoming one of the few bright spots during an abysmal stretch of Youth New England Patriots Jerseys preseason games for Kansas City.Johnson led the team with eight tackles while only playing about a half, and sacked Sam Bradford on third-and-7 early in the second quarter to help force a punt. But the play that really stood out was on the Rams' previous series, after they had already put together two long touchdown drives and had just taken possession of the ball at their own 8 yard line.It was second down and Bradford dropped back to pass. He looked to his right, then back to his left, and thought he saw Greg Salas coming open. As soon as he released the throw, Johnson jumped into the path and pulled down a highlight-reel interception while tumbling to the ground.''That was just a phenomenal play,'' Haley said. ''When I watched it on tape, I just rewound it, rewound it, rewound it. The reaction, the ability to catch the ball, hang on when he hit the ground ...''Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo even singled out the play in his postgame press conference, calling it the right read by Bradford and a good throw that just ended up with the Kids New England Patriots Jerseys wrong person.''Not a lot of Men New England Patriots Jerseys guys in this league can make that play,'' Spagnuolo said. ''I thought it was a pretty good throw, and sometimes those things happen when you play against elite players.''The play was especially gratifying to Johnson because, despite all the good things he did last season, he took a lot of grief for what he didn't do: Hold onto a couple of sure interceptions.''It definitely was one of my bigger plays as far as interceptions, spectacular catches,'' Johnson said. ''He kind of thought his guy was hot routing, wide open, and I just kind of slid under and made the catch. The quarterbacks are so good in this league it has to be a split-second kind of deal.''Haley believes that's the kinds of play Johnson can make regularly now, the kind of play he perhaps wouldn't have made when he was a younger player. And it's the kind of play Johnson will need to make if Kansas City wants to make it back to the playoffs this season.''He's working hard at it, Patriots Jersey Womens he's passionate about it, he's a great teammate, and when you can make plays like that, game-changers and get a sack and do some of the things he's been doing, that's good stuff,'' Haley said. ''If we can get him to show up like that throughout the year, that would sure be a good thing for our defense.''