Kansas City, Mo. ? Even though he missed almost all of training camp, rookie Branden Albert may start at left tackle Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs open their season as 161â2-point underdogs at New England.

Compounding the challenge for the first-round pick out of Virginia, Albert played guard almost all his college career.

But Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said not giving the 6-foot-5, 316-pounder the start would appear to be a betrayal of the commitment he has made to turning the roster over to young, growing players.

“He’s just another young one who’s going to have to play. That’s OK. That’s what we said we were going to do,” Edwards said Tuesday. “We stuck to our guns on this whole process, and now it’s time to go play. You can’t start questioning what you’re doing when it’s time to go play.”

A sprained foot caused Albert to miss all but the first five days of training camp.

The Chiefs have 22 new players – 15 rookies – on their roster.