Kansas City, Mo. ? Passes were dropped, timing was off, and by the end, more than a few people were leg-weary and tired.

The Kansas City Chiefs opened a three-day mandatory minicamp Friday, and the rust was obvious.

“This is the first time we’ve gotten together as a team, and all of a sudden we’re involved in 11-on-11 football,” said coach Herm Edwards, who did not seem overly concerned.

“‘We haven’t done this, practiced together as a team, since (the playoff game at Indianapolis). We’ve got a long ways to go, obviously.”

While many veterans seemed to be working hard to find their timing, Edwards was generally pleased with how far most of the rookies had come in the past month.

“Most of them have improved since the rookie minicamp because they’ve been challenged a lot more now,” Edwards said. “They’ve done a lot more things. Most of them are catching on pretty well. The worst thing you can do is throw so much in, because that’s not fair to the young guys.

“Now all of a sudden they’re thinking too much and they can’t play because they’re having to think. We want to make sure we’re evaluating their talent. We have a lot of time before we put our system in. That’s why we have training camp.”

The quarterback situation during the three days will remain the same as it was the week before in OTA (organized team activities), Edwards said, with each quarterback taking his turn working with the first team. On Friday, second-year man Brodie Croyle, widely expected to be the Chiefs’ quarterback of the future, worked with the starters while Trent Green and Damon Huard worked with the reserves.

Today, when the Chiefs stage a free-to-the-public two-hour practice in Arrowhead Stadium, Green will work with the starters. Huard will take his turn on Sunday.

“That’s the way it’ll be – fair,” said Edwards.

The coach has been accused by Green of “weighting” the competition in favor of Croyle while general manager Carl Peterson holds up a deal that would send Green to Miami.

“It’s been good competition so far,” Edwards said. “All I know is we’re going to be as fair as we can be. I think they understand that.”

Among the several missing players was rookie wide receiver Dwight Bowe, who was excused to go to Louisiana for the funeral of former LSU teammate Marquise Hill, who died after a jet ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain.

“He played with the kid for about two years,” Edwards said.

“He asked me, ‘What should I do?’ I told him there’s not any question what you’re going to do. You’re going to go down there to the funeral. That’s more important than anything else.”

Bowe was expected back on Sunday. Also missing was rookie tight end Michael Allan, a seventh-round draft pick who agreed to a three-year contract on Friday but now is sidelined by hernia surgery.

“He’s out for about three or four weeks. He won’t be ready until training camp.”

Allan, 6-foot-6 and 254 pound, was the 231st player taken in April’s draft after starring at Division III Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash.