Kansas City Chiefs fans are going to get their wish. It looks like Brady Quinn will be the starting quarterback in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel announced Wednesday that Matt Cassel hasn't been cleared to practice following the concussion he sustained Sunday. Quinn will take the No. 1 reps in practice.
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While Crennel wouldn't announce Quinn as the starter just yet, it seems little more than a formality. Quinn was 3-of-3 passing after replacing Cassel last weekend, but he couldn't lead the Chiefs to a comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens in a game marked by Kansas City fans cheering after Cassel was injured.
"Historically, the Chiefs fans are some of the best fans in the NFL. ... Anytime a player gets injured, it's unfortunate," Crennel said Wednesday. "I think the majority of the Kansas Chiefs fans felt bad about Matt (Cassel) was injured. There were some that expressed an opinion, a frustration that I have, that everybody else has about this season.
"They expressed it not in the way you would want it expressed. But you can't paint that broad brush of 70,000 people because that wasn't the case. I don't know how many did what they did. My concern is for my players and their health. ... I think that majority of Chiefs fans are not going to cheer a player getting hurt."
We're glad Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Winston expressed his frustration about the fans' cheering Cassel's injury. Whether it was a few thousand angry Chiefs fans or a majority of fans, it was too many fans. It has been a season of lows in Kansas City, and that moment symbolized it all.
UPDATE:Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt issued a statement backing Kansas City fans in an effort "to set the record straight."
The statement reads, "I know our fans. They are passionate, hardworking, loyal, educated football fans, and they are the heart and soul of the Arrowhead experience. They know cheering an injury to anyone in any stadium is unacceptable. I want to make it perfectly clear: A small few who may have cheered when Matt went down do not accurately represent the best fans in the National Football League. Period."
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
