Romeo Crennel is making a change at quarterback.
Crennel, who took over as Chiefs interim head coach after Todd Haley was fired this week, plans to demote Tyler Palko and start Kyle Orton on Sunday against the Packers. The only question is whether the injured finger on Orton’s throwing hand will cause him any problems. But if Orton can’t throw because of the finger, Palko still won’t start -- Crennel told the Chiefs today that he has decided to move rookie Ricky Stanzi ahead of Palko on the depth chart as well.
“I told them we’re making a change at quarterback, that we’re changing the quarterback and that Tyler would not be the starter this week,” Crennel told the media today after talking to his players. “Orton or Stanzi will be the starter. Which one? I’m not exactly sure yet because Orton has a finger that he has got to work through, and we’ll have to see during the week how his finger is and how he comes along and if he can handle it with that finger. Stanzi is a rookie and if Orton is able to go and can do it, then Orton is going to be the quarterback. If Orton cannot do it, then Stanzi will be the quarterback, and I told the team that today.”
Crennel hinted that the Chiefs might go all shotgun, all the time on offense if Orton is the starter.
“He’s been throwing a little bit with the trainers, and they said that for short passes, he’s been doing pretty good,” Crennel said. “Now, we’ll have to see how he does in practice. We might have to protect him a little bit from taking a snap, and we’ve got a plan in place to do that so that we can still operate the offense without him having to take a snap.”
That plan may not sound like a winning formula on Sunday against the Packers, but considering how badly Palko has played, the Chiefs had to do something.