“If I had been zero for four instead of four for four, I definitely wouldn’t feel as good about myself as I do now,” Croyle said. “I don’t think the coaches would feel as confident in me, or my teammates. You can only get so much momentum in practice. You really have to build that in the games.
“(The Chicago game) was good because it might have gotten people confident in what I can do and believing in me once I get on the field. But take it for what it’s worth. It was one drive and it was the 2-minute drill.”
The pass to Webb was a brilliant throw, but the Chiefs were even more encouraged by the pass to Bennett that he eventually fumbled. Croyle thought about forcing a pass to Tony Gonzalez, a habit that landed him in trouble during the preseason.
Croyle instead took the safety valve to Bennett, who gained 10 yards before fumbling.
It may have been one play and one decision, or perhaps it’s evidence of Croyle’s growth.
“Three weeks ago, I don’t think I would have hit two check-downs (in Chicago),” Croyle said. “On one of those plays, I could have forced the ball to Tony. But I took the shorter pass.
“It’s a fine line. You want to go out there and make plays and spark things. That’s when bad things can happen. In the preseason, when we weren’t moving the ball, I felt I needed to go out there and make a big play. That’s when bad plays happened and turnovers happened. That turned a bad situation into a worse situation.”
Croyle’s insistence on forcing passes during the preseason got him into trouble and left Edwards no choice but to start the season with Huard. From all appearances in Chicago, Croyle made good use of the three weeks since Huard was chosen the starter.
“There’s only so much that can change in three weeks, but preseason was a great learning experience for me,” Croyle said. “As bad as it was, I can’t tell you how much I learned. In college, you can force those balls and possibly hit them. Up here, you have to take what they give you. That makes you yardage, anyway.
“I don’t know if you can ever say losing a job was good for you, but obviously I wasn’t ready at that point in time. It’s been different preparing as the backup this year than it was last year. Last year I wasn’t going to play unless we got to the last-case scenario. Now I’ve had to prepare like I was going to start because it could happen at any time.”
Croyle took just six snaps against the Bears, including a running play and a Chicago penalty when Croyle was dragged down by his face mask.
The Chiefs aren’t looking at those plays as insignificant. They certainly won’t when Croyle becomes the starter, whenever that might be.
“Those weren’t wasted plays or meaningless plays,” guard Brian Waters said. “We were still in the game at that point. We still could have won. The Bears still had their starters in there. He didn’t panic. He got hit on the first play but he bounced back to make some good decisions and put some passes in good places.”
Chiefs sticking with Huard over Croyle as starting quarterback
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Originally Posted by Guru
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