Quarterback battle between Croyle, Huard remains close

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs probably aren't much closer to naming a starting quarterback than they were before Thursday's game with Miami, an 11-10 loss in their preseason opener at Arrowhead Stadium.

Veteran quarterback Damon Huard and second-year player Brodie Croyle, battling for the starting job vacated by the trade of Trent Green to the Dolphins in the offseason, made their second appearances of the preseason with mixed results.

Huard, who posted a 5-3 record while Green was recovering from a severe concussion sustained during the 2006 season opener, drew the start but didn't have much success playing the entire first quarter.

Croyle, meanwhile, led the Chiefs (0-2) to their lone touchdown drive, completing his first four passes and finding wide receiver Chris Hannon for a 21-yard scoring play. But he also threw an ill-advised interception in the end zone.

"We'll have to evaluate it," Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. "I don't want to make a decision right now after a game. We have to weigh everything and see where we're at.

"Brodie did some good things, and Damon didn't get as many chances throwing the football. We were trying to run the football and we were struggling trying to do that."

Croyle finished 6-for-11 for 82 yards.

"I started off strong, went in there and made some throws and got the ball rolling," Croyle said. "The second series, I got a little greedy and went for it all to bury them right there -- a bad decision on my part."

It was the second straight week that Croyle made a bad passing decision that resulted in an interception. Instead of throwing a pass out of bounds against the Cleveland Browns last week, he forced it and was intercepted.

Against the Dolphins, in its first series since Croyle's scoring pass, Kansas City had the football at the Miami 22 after the Chiefs' Keyaron Fox recovered a Cleo Lemon fumble, which Tamba Hali jarred loose.

After rookie running back Kolby Smith gained 3 yards to the 19, Croyle threw to the end zone off his back foot on second down. But Dolphins cornerback Michael Lehan easily intercepted the poorly thrown ball.

Huard finished 3-for-5 passing for 26 yards, unable to get untracked in the first quarter.

"It wasn't all that great," Huard said of his performance. "We got a couple first downs, but we couldn't get a whole lot going. We just made some mistakes out there.

"We need to make more plays."

Third-string quarterback Casey Printers played the second half for the Chiefs.