Five Kansas City wide receivers played in the first quarter of Saturday night’s preseason game against the Texans, and Dwayne Bowe wasn’t one of them.
Despite averaging over 1,000 yards in his first two seasons, Chiefs coach Todd Haley continues to try to send a message to Bowe because Haley isn’t happy with Bowe’s work habits.
The tough love appears to be working.
Bowe entered with the third team offense, and he caught five passes for 70 yards in two quarters, playing against many guys who probably won’t be in the league this year.
His production isn’t surprising, but Bowe’s reaction to his catches is more so. Bowe didn’t perform any of his trademark celebrations or demonstrations after making first downs. (With Reggie Williams out of the league, Bowe could contend for the league lead in celebrations-per-catch.)
Bowe left the locker room before speaking with reporters, but Haley spoke about his play.
“Really, the last two days of practice [Bowe has] definitely started to show up. In this game, he definitely showed up. That, to me, was a definite positive. We’re going to play the guys we think are doing it the way we want it done, and that was the way we went tonight.”
“That could change. Bowe definitely showed something to me,” Haley finished.
Um, yeah. Chiefs fans and fantasy leaguers shouldn’t have to worry that Terrance Copper, Devard Darling, and Rodney Wright will keep Bowe on the bench when the games count.
Haley isn’t above serving some humble pie to one of his young stars, but he’s not crazy. He wants to win.
With the message appearing to get through to Bowe, we’ll guess that his benching lasts one more preseason game at most.