Kansas City Chiefs’ Ryan Lilja comes to teammate, Matt Cassel’s rescue – NFL News
Kansas City Chiefs’ guard Ryan Lilja has come to rescue his teammate, quarterback, Matt Cassel, who was placed on injury reserve during the last National Football League (NFL) season after he suffered a season-ending injury.
Chiefs are said to have been exploring different options regarding bringing a new quarterback into the side. The team is also seriously considering different options for the upcoming NFL drafts, which will start on April 26, 2012.
Furthermore, Chiefs also expressed interest in signing Peyton Manning, who was released by Indianapolis Colts after the association of 14 years.
Peyton met plenty of teams interested in signing him, but he eventually ended up joining hands with the Denver Broncos, who had to release the sensational Tim Tebow, to make room for Peyton.
However, Lilja seems slightly annoyed by the team management, which, he said, is overlooking the performance of Cassel.
Cassel started his professional NFL career in 2005 with the New England Patriots. After playing four years with the Pats, he joined Chiefs in 2009.
In his first year with Chiefs, he recorded 2,924 passing yards in 15 games. He also threw 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
In his second year with Chiefs, he recorded 3,116 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
In the last NFL season, he could only play nine games in which he completed 262 passes of 450 attempts for 1,713 yards while recording 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
In the week 10 game against Broncos, he injured his hand and had to undergo a surgery to fix the damage.
Now when the management is exploring different options, Lilja thinks that the team should not underestimate the quarterback’s achievements.
He said:
“People forget really, really quickly what Matt did two years ago. He was in Hawaii (to play in the Pro Bowl). ... He’s our guy, and I’m proud to play with him. I’ve had to defend him to people all over town, and that drives me crazy. I hate to hear people
criticize him.”
Interestingly, Lilja has favoured Cassel in front of Peyton as well. Peyton and Lilja have played together when both were playing for the Colts.
He said of Manning and the friendship between the two players:
“There is a friendship there, but I have tons of friends. That doesn’t mean I want them as my quarterback.”
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