"Another day passed, and Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe kept following the script, difficult as it might sometimes be.

Standing in the locker room Sunday afternoon, dressing and controlling the music on Tamba Hali's stereo, Bowe shook his head and said that, no, he wouldn't be speaking to reporters on this day. Maybe not the whole year.

"Well," Bowe said with a smile, "I can't say the whole year."

Difficult as it might be for Bowe, a fourth-year receiver, to remain silent, there's little doubt that the Chiefs' plan for him is working — at least for now. And his silence is part of a plan. When reporters approached Bowe on Sunday, a team employee caught the player's eye and shook his head, reminding Bowe to keep quiet. It was a message, perhaps, that Bowe's silence is an organizationwide mandate. He obliged, chuckled and got back to whatever it is he does.

Bowe has, through training camp and three preseason games, been one of the Chiefs' most impressive players. He had four catches Friday night in an exhibition loss to Philadelphia, and one of those was a touchdown. The old problems that once haunted Bowe — the drops, the animated behavior that might have distracted him, the lack of focus — appeared to be in the past.

"He understands," coach Todd Haley said. "The message was clear to him what he had to do, and he came into the offseason exactly the way he was asked. He worked through the offseason the way that good receivers, trying to become real good receivers, have to, and now he's continued through training camp to be a dependable player for us.

"He's made progress in all areas. He's becoming one of our more dependable players. That's good. That's what we want. That's what we ask of him."

Haley said Sunday that the Chiefs have emphasized to Bowe that his job isn't only to catch passes.

He also has to be a dependable blocker, and Haley cited a handful of examples from Friday's game that displayed that Bowe has perhaps committed himself fully."