Kansas City, Mo. ? On a recent trip back home to Louisiana, Dwayne Bowe ran into an old friend, a former teammate from LSU. They visited, caught up on old times, and bid each other farewell.

Then, a few days later, Bowe got a phone call he’ll never forget.

On the other end was another LSU teammate. The friend he had run into at the airport was dead. Searchers had found the body of New England Patriots lineman Marquise Hill on Monday, a day after he was reported missing following a jet ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain.

“I was sad,” said Bowe, Kansas City’s first-round draft pick.

“I was out and I got the call. I went home, and I prayed for his family. I was just with him in the layover going home. I prayed for his family.

“That’s why you can’t take anything for granted. You have to live every day to the fullest. I’m going to talk with the young guys.”

Everyone says Bowe, a big, rugged wide receiver, is working hard and making progress. He has even become friends with veteran wide receiver Eddie Kennison, the man he eventually could push out of a job.

But the news of Hill’s death came as “quite a blow.”

“I had just asked him how he was doing. He said he was home to see his daughter,” Bowe said.

He said he would remember Hill “as a character, a comedian.”

“He was always willing to bring you up when you’re down, always willing to help somebody,” he said. “Bad things happen to good people.”

In the meantime, one of the quarterbacks throwing passes to Bowe and the other wide receivers Wednesday was – still – Trent Green.

But at least the Chiefs and Dolphins have begun communicating again on a trade that has been in the works since February, Green said.

His agent, Jim Steiner, said last Friday that Kansas City had not even returned his calls, letting the impasse stretch on.

“(The Chiefs) did end up calling back my agent over the weekend, and they touched base with (Miami). There has been some communication, trying to move forward,” Green said.

Green continued to take snaps in practice Wednesday with the three other quarterbacks in camp, Casey Printers, Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle, with everyone figuring there’s almost no way he’ll be with Kansas City much longer.

“I thought there would be sense of emergency months ago,” Green said. “I’ve been dealing with this since February. Publicly, it’s been since April or March, leading up to draft. The sense of emergency was a long time ago. Yes, it’s dragging.”

And, he added, it’s still awkward.

“When you’re in a meeting or in the huddle or out on the field, it’s just an awkwardness there. I think guys are pretty understanding of the situation.”