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Fujita makes impact as reserve
Two-year starter now may be battling for a roster spot
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
So, this is what it’s come to. Scott Fujita, the Chiefs’ leading tackler two years running, is playing, literally, for his livelihood.
The starting left outside linebacker for the better part of three seasons is this close to being beat out by, among others, undrafted rookie Kris Griffin.
“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Chiefs coach **** Vermeil said of Fujita. “I saw him make some plays.”
The latest bad omen came on the opening series of the Chiefs’ 24-17 preseason loss to Arizona on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Even with a scratch list 25 players deep — five of them linebackers — Fujita didn’t start when the Chiefs’ defense took the field. You knew hotshot first-round draft pick Derrick Johnson would be starting in Fujita’s customary left outside linebacker spot.
But with Kendrell Bell sitting out because of injury, perhaps Fujita could have started on the other side. Instead, it was Griffin on the field with the Chiefs’ top defenders.
The second bad omen had Fujita on the field until the very end, scratching it out with all the dreamers.
It wasn’t all bad for Fujita. Not by a long shot. He pressured Kurt Warner in the first half, stripped running back J.J. Arrington on Arizona’s second possession, and ran down running back Marcel Shipp from behind in the second half. All told, Fujita finished with a game-high seven tackles and a forced fumble, plus played special teams.
Arizona backup quarterback Josh McCown did juke Fujita out of a potential sack in the fourth quarter, but still, Fujita’s performance was worthy of a fourth-year NFL veteran. It was certainly above a guy having to worry about his employment.
Fujita is healed from April surgery to repair his injured right ankle. He was one of the first out of the locker room after the game, walking out the back door before he could be reached for comment.
“That guy, to me, is just a specimen,” said Gary Stills, listed third-string, just behind Fujita at left outside linebacker. “He’s just a very, very intelligent man, and what happened with his ankle injury, I think he’s surprised some people coming back this fast. If it doesn’t work for him here, I know he’ll have a job somewhere else.”
Fujita has been on the other side of this story, too. He arrived at California as a walk-on safety, a two-sport high school star looking for a chance. He left as a beefed up linebacker and fifth-round draft choice of the Chiefs.
He made an immediate impact, even it was for one of the league’s worst defenses. Fujita led the Chiefs in tackles in 2003 with 151, and again in 2004 with 112. That total in 2003 is the fifth-highest in franchise history.
He is a bright guy, once worthy of Ivy League recruitment. And he’s a heck of an athlete, once the winner of a slam-dunk contest held at halftime of a high school all-star basketball game.
The thinking is that Fujita just isn’t defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham’s kind of guy, and may be replaced by a better athlete who’s able to control more ground.
Someone, perhaps, like Griffin.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Vermeil said. “The thing about a person like Scott Fujita is he’s a tremendous competitor. And he’s just becoming healthy.”
Fujita makes impact as reserve
Two-year starter now may be battling for a roster spot
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star
So, this is what it’s come to. Scott Fujita, the Chiefs’ leading tackler two years running, is playing, literally, for his livelihood.
The starting left outside linebacker for the better part of three seasons is this close to being beat out by, among others, undrafted rookie Kris Griffin.
“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Chiefs coach **** Vermeil said of Fujita. “I saw him make some plays.”
The latest bad omen came on the opening series of the Chiefs’ 24-17 preseason loss to Arizona on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Even with a scratch list 25 players deep — five of them linebackers — Fujita didn’t start when the Chiefs’ defense took the field. You knew hotshot first-round draft pick Derrick Johnson would be starting in Fujita’s customary left outside linebacker spot.
But with Kendrell Bell sitting out because of injury, perhaps Fujita could have started on the other side. Instead, it was Griffin on the field with the Chiefs’ top defenders.
The second bad omen had Fujita on the field until the very end, scratching it out with all the dreamers.
It wasn’t all bad for Fujita. Not by a long shot. He pressured Kurt Warner in the first half, stripped running back J.J. Arrington on Arizona’s second possession, and ran down running back Marcel Shipp from behind in the second half. All told, Fujita finished with a game-high seven tackles and a forced fumble, plus played special teams.
Arizona backup quarterback Josh McCown did juke Fujita out of a potential sack in the fourth quarter, but still, Fujita’s performance was worthy of a fourth-year NFL veteran. It was certainly above a guy having to worry about his employment.
Fujita is healed from April surgery to repair his injured right ankle. He was one of the first out of the locker room after the game, walking out the back door before he could be reached for comment.
“That guy, to me, is just a specimen,” said Gary Stills, listed third-string, just behind Fujita at left outside linebacker. “He’s just a very, very intelligent man, and what happened with his ankle injury, I think he’s surprised some people coming back this fast. If it doesn’t work for him here, I know he’ll have a job somewhere else.”
Fujita has been on the other side of this story, too. He arrived at California as a walk-on safety, a two-sport high school star looking for a chance. He left as a beefed up linebacker and fifth-round draft choice of the Chiefs.
He made an immediate impact, even it was for one of the league’s worst defenses. Fujita led the Chiefs in tackles in 2003 with 151, and again in 2004 with 112. That total in 2003 is the fifth-highest in franchise history.
He is a bright guy, once worthy of Ivy League recruitment. And he’s a heck of an athlete, once the winner of a slam-dunk contest held at halftime of a high school all-star basketball game.
The thinking is that Fujita just isn’t defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham’s kind of guy, and may be replaced by a better athlete who’s able to control more ground.
Someone, perhaps, like Griffin.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Vermeil said. “The thing about a person like Scott Fujita is he’s a tremendous competitor. And he’s just becoming healthy.”
