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          Q and A: Would Chiefs cut Donnie Avery?

          • Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff WriterAug 2, 2014, 08:00 AM ET
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            • Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
            • Joined ESPN in 2013
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          ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- This is another training camp edition of the Kansas City Chiefs mailbag. To ask a question for a future edition, send it to me via Twitter (@adamteicher) and tag it #ChiefsMail.

          @adamteicher: At this point, I think the Chiefs will keep starting wide receiver Donnie Avery. He's fast and while he didn't have a big first season for the Chiefs in 2013, his production was more or less in line with what he'd done earlier in the season. Keep in mind that as far as proven players at wide receiver, the Chiefs have Avery and Dwayne Bowe and that's it. That said, let's see how Albert Wilson and Frankie Hammond Jr. do in the preseason. The Chiefs could make that move if either Wilson or Hammond proves capable.

          @adamteicher: I had an interesting conversation with Derrick Johnson recently. He said playing against Alex Smith is "frustrating." By that, he meant that Smith doesn't take many chances and in playing against him a defense doesn't get many chances for a turnover. That's who Smith is. It's been who he was with the San Francisco 49ers, who he was last season with the Chiefs and who he will be this season. The Chiefs would like Smith to push the ball down the field a bit more, but it's probably not going to happen.

          @adamteicher: Looks like the Chiefs are engaging in some wishful thinking back there to me. Despite how Brandon Flowers played last season, I don't see how the Chiefs are better at cornerback with Marcus Cooper and Ron Parker instead of Flowers and Sean Smith. And if Husain Abdullah was the answer at free safety, why didn't the Chiefs make him the starter and bench Kendrick Lewis last season. Sanders Commings might have helped but that's not happening now. Maybe Steve Gregory can help at safety but if he had a lot left he would have already been in some team's camp.

          @adamteicher: I'd be at about a nine right now if I was John Dorsey. But his actions don't look like those of a panicked general manager. The Chiefs didn't add a defensive back of significance through free agency and drafted only cornerback Phillip Gaines in the third round.

          @adamteicher: Eric Fisher at left tackle, Jeff Allen at left guard, Rodney Hudson at center, Zach Fulton and Rishaw Johnson taking turns at right guard and Donald Stephenson at right tackle. I'm predicting Fulton will start when the regular season begins. If so, all five starters would be Chiefs' draft picks since 2011. Four of the five were picked in either the first, second or third round.

          @adamteicher: It might seem like it now, but the Chiefs have been hit harder by injuries at training camp in seasons past than they have this year. But the injuries have been mostly concentrated at two position groups (secondary, wide receiver) which appears to make the situation worse than it is.

          @adamteicher: I don't think so. He's far back on the depth chart of wide receivers. At this point, it would be a major surprise if Dressler made the regular-season roster. He has time to change that but has a long way to go.