Last Wednesday was not a good day for Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe. After dropping multiple passes in an offseason practice, word emerged of his ill-advised “importing” comments to ESPN The Magazine. In between, he played the “no homo” card in a radio spot with our friend Nick Wright of SportsRadio 610.
On Monday, things improved for Bowe. According to Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star, Bowe “made tough catches and easy ones” in the first practice session of the new week.
Coach Todd Haley, echoing his words from last Thursday to Jim Rome, said that the second-year coach has had a “long conversation” with Bowe regarding his decision to talk publicly about a private matter that undoubtedly caused plenty of unwanted problems for his current and former teammates.
“You’ve got a lot of young guys who our coaching staff is constantly coaching, on and off the field,” Haley said, “trying to get them to think the way that we know works, and act the way that we know works.”
“He was starting to bounce back from all the other stuff that’s been going on,” receiver Chris Chambers told the Star. “Once again, it’s a part of life. He’s young still.
“I’m not really comfortable talking about it,” added Chambers, who believes his own off-field entanglements got him cut by the Chargers. “I’m his teammate, part of the wide receiver group. I’m going to support him. It seems like some things got twisted around. It’s unfortunate for him that he has to go through this, because he’s been doing well.”
For now, the matter seems to be resolved. The challenge for Bowe will be to continue to do the right things on the field, and to avoid saying the wrong things off it.
On Monday, Bowe made no ill-advised comments; he was long gone by the time the media made it to the locker room.