Matt Cassel has received the his share of criticism in his time with the Kansas City Chiefs as the team's starting quarterback. Ricky Stanzi has been praised for his potential and fans have clamored to see him play. This preseason, the wheels have come off just a bit for Stanzi with two straight performances that look hurried, overwhelmed and have removed some of the luster. Yet Cassel recently took to praising Stanzi when discussing him in some remarks from Arrowhead on Tuesday.
Stanzi's most recent performance included two turnovers -- a fumble and interception -- against the St. Louis Rams in a game where the entire Chiefs team looked anemic. Romeo Crennel, the team's head coach, was frustrated all around, so it's hardly a case of Stanzi letting his teammates down. Yet it was also clear that turnovers killed the team's momentum and he was responsible for two of four for the Chiefs.
"When you go and watch the film it's not always as bad as it seems and I thought Ricky went out there and competed," said Cassel, "and sometimes as a quarterback it doesn't always go as you planned, but at the same time, the thing about Ricky and that I love to see is he bounces back, even after the interception or if something bad happens, he comes back and says ‘What's next?'
"You've got to have that kind of demeanor and I love that about Ricky; he's ready to come back and get back to work this week and he's not hanging his head or anything like that. That's part of playing the quarterback position, you've got to take the good with the bad."
Overall, Cassel says the foursome that also includes Brady Quinn, the team's second string quarterback, and Alex Tanney, the fourth string undrafted free agent from Monmouth, is a group he's proud of.
"I love our group this year. I think we all are pushing each other. You know the thing about the quarterback position, the quarterback room, is we spend so much time together. Maybe unlike some of the other positions, we really do spend a ton of time in the room watching film dedicating a lot of our time after practice.
"To have a good room makes all the world of difference and we've got four great guys in there right now and we're all competing and pushing each other and talking about stuff. It's been a great experience so far with these guys."
For more on the Kansas City Chiefs, check out Arrowhead Pride.