KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On Feb. 1, Damon Huard was a Tom Brady ankle twist away from stepping under center for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. But Huard doesn’t need to reflect on his last NFL stop to understand how fast things can change for an NFL quarterback.

He learned plenty about that on Aug. 6, when Vikings defensive tackle wannabe/WWE star Brock Lesnar reserved a wing for himself in the knucklehead Hall of Fame by crashing into Huard during a non-contact drill.

Huard, who signed a two-year contract with the Chiefs in June, suffered a dislocated right elbow (his throwing arm) thanks to Lesnar’s hit and wasn’t able to throw a football with conviction until earlier this week.

He has been limited to classroom work, footwork drills and handoffs ever since.

“My handoffs have never been this good,” Huard said, jokingly.

Lesnar’s stunt not only touched off a series of brawls between the Vikings and Chiefs, but it also cost Huard nearly three weeks of practice time, two preseason games and perhaps a shot at pushing Todd Collins for the opportunity to be Trent Green’s backup.

Huard will start trying to make up for lost time Saturday when he gets his first preseason action against the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium.

“It’s been a frustrating few weeks, that’s for sure,” said Huard, a 31-year-old veteran from the University of Washington, who is coming off three seasons as a backup in New England. “But now I’m ready to get out there and give it a whirl. I’m ready to play. I’m looking forward to it.”

Huard hasn’t attempted a pass under game conditions since Dec. 27 when he played briefly against Buffalo. Before that, he hadn’t played in a regular-season game since 2000 when he started once for the Dolphins against the Colts.

So it’s easy to understand why he’s eager to get on the field and show what he can do. He’s not the only one.

“It’s good to see him back working,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “Hopefully, we can get him in a game and get him some work.”

Vermeil said he, offensive coordinator Al Saunders and quarterbacks coach Jason Verduzco have yet to determine the quarterback rotation for Saturday night. But Huard did put in some extra time taking snaps from backup center Jonathan Ingram after practice Wednesday and said his right arm is feeling stronger.

So far, rookie Casey Clausen has been the main beneficiary of Huard’s absence. In two games, Clausen has completed 12 of 19 passes for 97 yards without a touchdown or interception. The surest sign yet that Huard is getting closer to game readiness came at the start of the scout team portion of Wednesday’s practice when Huard dropped back and threw a deep out to Dave Klemic . The ball was on target, and Huard didn’t appear to wince after making the throw, which is considered to be one of the toughest an NFL quarterback has to make.

Huard later made his longest throw when he attempted to hook up with Klemic on a deep post pattern.

“I haven’t tried to throw a lot of deep, deep balls,” Huard said. “But today I felt good enough to let it go a little. I feel ready to go out there and make it happen.”

Huard needs as much work as he can get because he’s learning an offense that is different from any he’s run in previous stops with New England and Miami. The Dolphins ran some elements of the Air Coryell system but nothing with the menu of shifts and motions or volume of plays run by the Chiefs.

“It’s a very quarterback-friendly offense,” Huard said. “It’s really like taking all of the good aspects of every offense out there and throwing them into one system. There are no limitations. Every wrinkle. Every route. There’s been a lot to learn. Fortunately, I’ve been able to pick up a lot of it in practice by watching Trent and Todd execute the offense.”

Even though Lesnar’s cheap shot cost Huard valuable time, Huard isn’t taking pleasure in the fact that Lesnar is about to get released by the Vikings. Rather, Huard sounds like a guy who has seen a little bit of everything in his eight NFL seasons and just wants to play football.

“Nothing surprises me anymore,” Huard said. “I learned a long time ago that you just have to be thankful for every day you get in this league.”