It might be time to start worrying about Kansas City Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers, who has not practiced since July 31 when he bruised his heel.
Flowers met with doctors on Tuesday to evaluate the injury, which coach Romeo Crennel originally thought would only keep Flowers out of practice for a couple days. Crennel did not rule Flowers out for Friday's preaseason game in St. Louis. For Flowers to play, Crennel said, he would have to practice on Wednesday.
The big worry is starting to be that Flowers will not be prepared for the regular season opener on Sept. 9 against Atlanta, even if he does return before then.
"Any time you're not able to practice, your timing, your recognition of routes, your condition is not what it needs to be," Crennel told the Kansas City Star. "We'd like to get him out there so that those things can get into game shape. That's what we need him to be. We need him to be in game shape. When that first game comes, they don't care what kind of problems you might have had or anything like that. If you're on the field, you're expected to produce. So we've got to get him on the field and get sharp so he can perform at a high level."
No changes to the depth chart: Crennel released his second depth chart on Tuesday and there were no changes from the first. One position to note is backup quarterback, where Brady Quinn is still listed in front of Ricky Stanzi. Crennel will make a decision on Wednesday which quarterback will be the first off the bench in Friday's preseason game at St. Louis.
"It's not (set) in stone," Crennel said of the depth chart. "I can change it whenever I need to. They want you to put it out at the very beginning of the week. Like I told you last week, I had to put one out. So this week I had to put one out. It was very simple for me to say, 'OK, let's keep it the same as we had last week.' But don't read anything into the depth chart. As this week goes along and I feel like someone needs to move up or someone needs to move down, that will happen."
Crennel defends Poe: Crennel came to the defense of rookie NT Dontari Poe on Tuesday. Poe has been unable to take the starting position away from Anthony Toribio, leaving some worried that Poe was not worth the No. 11 pick.
"I know everybody wants the guy to be all-world,” Crennel told the Star. "If he is all-world, then we’re all going to be happy. But there's a process the player has to go through before he becomes all-world.
"I told him the other day (that) no matter what everybody says, if you work to get better and you're able to help this team win, then you're valuable to this team. That's the approach I want him to take, to help this team win. If he will do the things we need him to do, that will help the team win and then we'll all be happy."
Hemingway close to return: Rookie receiver Junior Hemingway was on the sidelines in pads working out during Tuesday's practice, according to KCChiefs.com. The team's seventh-round pick has missed most of training camp with a groin injury.
Follow Chiefs reporter C.J. Moore on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLKC and @cjmoore4.
