"Training camp at Missouri Western this week looked, sounded and, to the players felt, more like training camp as the Chiefs inch closer to the start of the regular season.

Perhaps that means they will let starting quarterback Matt Cassel throw some passes tonight as their exhibition schedule continues with a 6:30 game against the Ravens in Baltimore.

"I hope so," Cassel said. "That's the plan."

The unhurried pace of the first two weeks of camp left the Chiefs unprepared for last week's preseason opener against Tampa Bay. The result, a 25-0 Buccaneers victory, was predictable.

The Chiefs took extraordinary care that night to not put Cassel in harm's way. He took eight snaps, handing off on seven with a botched center exchange accounting for the other.

At some point, probably tonight, the Chiefs have to take the wraps off. While every player on their roster was affected one way or another by the lockout, none was like Cassel.

He's 29 now and in his fourth year as an NFL starter, which in many cases could qualify him as a seen-it-all, done-it-all quarterback. But Cassel played little in college, so every snap he gets is still a learning experience. He didn't get any during the offseason, where practice was scrapped because of the lockout.

He was on his own, not the ideal situation for a quarterback trying to establish himself as one of the NFL's elite. He organized some informal throwing sessions with some of the Chiefs' receivers but acknowledged that wasn't as beneficial as practice with the coaches present.

As a result, the Chiefs are behind where the usually would be at this point of their preseason.

"You get a little unsettled when you get into camp and you're trying to set that foundation," Cassel said. "You're like, 'OK, I want more and more and more.' But the fact of the matter is you can't rush that. You have to set that foundation early, and once you have that, you can grow from there.""