RIVER FALLS, WIS. ? Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dameane Douglas was carried from the field Thursday after Minnesota Vikings cornerback Rushen Jones threw him to the ground during a joint practice.

Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said the extent of the injury wouldn’t be known until Douglas was evaluated by a doctor late Thursday night, but that it didn’t look good for the unrestricted free agent who was battling for the team’s fifth wide receiver spot.

“It’s too bad it had to happen,” Vermeil said. “It takes the edge off the whole practice.”

Douglas caught a short pass from quarterback Jonathan Quinn during a 7-on-7 passing drill and was wrapped up high by Jones, who then swung Douglas to the ground where his left knee buckled under the weight of his own body.

Vermeil stopped short of blaming Jones for deliberately trying to hurt Douglas, but said the type of play can be prevented.

“Did you see any of our players do that?” he said. “It can be controlled.”

Douglas is a fifth-year player from California whom the Chiefs signed in April, mainly for his special teams play with the Philadelphia Eagles during the past four seasons. He finished the 2002 season as the Eagles’ third-leading tackler on special teams with 17 and recovered two fumbles.

Kansas City's Chris Horn, right, checks on receiver Dameane Douglas along with Minnesota's Carey Scott, left, and Rushen Jones. Douglas injured his knee and had to be carried off the field. The Chiefs practiced Thursday in River Falls, Wis.

Vermeil said Douglas had been impressive in training camp. During Thursday’s morning practice with the Vikings, he caught three passes for big gains.

“He was having a great camp and he’s a great kid,” Vermeil said. “It’s just too bad. He’s a great kid and it’s just disappointing.”

Vermeil said the incident wouldn’t make him reconsider the importance of practicing against another team during training camp.

“It’s a good situation with the Vikings,” he said. “We’re close, we can do it, and you can grow and learn how to do it better every time. We just have to get it better disciplined, that’s all.”

Before Douglas went down, offensive tackle John Tait limped off the field because of sprained ankle.

“It got rolled up on,” Vermeil said. “I don’t think it’s serious, but he’s going to miss some time.”

• Short practice: Vermeil said the morning workout between the two teams was cut short by about 20 minutes. “We eliminated the two-minute drills at the end because there’s too many scouts here,” he said. “I came out here yesterday shaking hands with the general manager of the Green Bay Packers, standing in our end zone. We just thought that, you’re doing a two-minute drill and calling your audibles and all that and there’s some guy sitting there recording them. So we just decided to drop them for both sides.”