Kansas City, Mo ? Priest Holmes is headed back to the town that gave him his start in the NFL and the team that decided it could do better without him.

An ordinary running back might be vowing vengeance, excited at the prospect of showing his former employers they were wrong to let him go.

Holmes, however, is no ordinary running back.

Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil said Tuesday he’s not at all worried about having to calm his star’s nerves before the unbeaten Chiefs take on Baltimore Sunday.

“From time to time, players do get a little extra incentive,” Vermeil said. “I know Priest will be excited about playing against his old team, but for all the right reasons. It’s just like playing golf against your best friend. You want to beat him.”

Adding an even more interesting twist to Holmes’ return will be his head-to-head duel with Jamal Lewis. It was after they took Lewis in the first round of the 2000 draft that the Ravens decided to let Holmes become a free agent.

He signed with the Chiefs and has led the NFL in yards from scrimmage in each of the past two seasons.

But Lewis hasn’t exactly been a bust. He had 1,364 yards rushing his rookie season while Holmes played second team, and Lewis currently is the league’s leading rusher with 496 yards. Against Cleveland Sept. 14, he rushed for 295 yards to set the NFL single-game record.

Lewis missed the 2001 season with a knee injury

Holmes, who underwent offseason hip surgery, has seven touchdowns rushing, the most ever for a Chief in the first three games. His 296 yards rushing are third in the AFC and fourth in the NFL, while his 467 combined yards from scrimmage are second in the league.

Holmes never has seemed bitter toward the Ravens.

“I have never heard Priest Holmes say a negative word about Baltimore in any way,” Vermeil said. “I’ve talked to five or six different Baltimore people — including their head coach at an owners’ meetings — and they all have tremendous respect for Priest Holmes and are excited that he’s having a real good career outside the Ravens.

“They just don’t want him to have a good day against them, I’m sure.”

Vermeil said Holmes knows the Ravens did not let him go because they did not respect him.

“You just can’t pay two running backs starting salaries,” he said. “That’s all there is to it. The salary cap does not allow it, especially the state of their salary cap at that time.”

Vermeil would expect the winner of the personal battle to be the rusher who gets the most help from his supporting cast.

“When you have two real fine running backs coming head-to-head, it’s what the other phase of his team does that helps him be what he has the ability to be that day,” Vermeil said. “Neither one of them will have a great day unless their offensive lines do a real good job and unless their defenses keep the game close so that you don’t have to throw the ball 40 times.”

Also Tuesday, Kansas City’s Dante Hall was named the AFC special teams player of the week for the second week in a row. In a 42-14 victory at Houston, he had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving the Chiefs a 28-7 lead. The week before against Pittsburgh, Hall uncorked a momentum-turning 100-yard kickoff return.

Hall leads the AFC with 158 yards in punt return yards and tops the NFL with a 19.8-yard punt return average and a 33.6-yard average running back kickoffs.