If ever a team needed a week off, it&rsquo;s the Chiefs. They&rsquo;ve lost six of seven games, including a 37-7 loss to San Diego on Sunday &mdash; the worst home loss in 33 years.</p><p>So even though the schedule says the Chiefs will be idle this week, they&rsquo;ll have plenty of work to do on the practice field.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy it is the bye week,&rdquo; said first-year coach Todd Haley. &ldquo;This is a much-needed week for us to work on things. We have a load of things to work on, obviously.&rdquo;</p><p>The Chiefs will practice today, Wednesday and Thursday before getting the weekend off and returning on Monday. And they&rsquo;ll be scouting themselves before beginning preparations for their game Nov. 8 at Jacksonville.</p><p>&ldquo;The circumstances we&rsquo;re in as a team, more specifically, offensively, we need the time, without having to game plan or get ready for an opponent to just work on us,&rdquo; said Haley, whose team&rsquo;s loss was by the biggest margin at home since a 45-0 loss to two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh in 1976.</p><p>Haley said much of the week will be dedicated to examining the numerous negative plays by the offense and the big plays allowed by the defense.</p><p>Offensively, the Chiefs need to get off to better starts in games. They have scored just six points in the first quarter, fewest in the NFL. </p><p>Defensively, the Chiefs allowed six plays of 20-yards plus against San Diego, including three pass plays of 51 yards or more and runs of 36 and 21 yards. For the season, the Chiefs have surrendered 22 pass plays of 20 yards or more and 20 runs of 10 yards or more.</p><p>&ldquo;Is it a scheme we&rsquo;re putting the players in a poor position to succeed?&rdquo; Haley said. &ldquo;Is it certain players? Defensively, we&rsquo;ve got to figure out a way to prevent the big play.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite the 1-6 record, Haley said the record and Sunday&rsquo;s result do not reflect progress he believes the team is making.</p><p>&ldquo;Effort wasn&rsquo;t an issue, evidenced by a couple of goal-line stands,&rdquo; Haley said of Sunday&rsquo;s game. &ldquo;When you watch the tape, when there is an interception, and you see 300-pound linemen diving to try and knock a guy out of bounds at the 1, and fight until the last minute of that game, those are encouraging signs we have guys who care and are working to get better.</p><p>&ldquo;Would I like more wins, could we have more wins? I definitely would like to have more wins and not be sitting here at 1-6. This is a process. Losing is not going to be accepted, and we&rsquo;re going to get back to work Tuesday on trying to get this team better.&rdquo;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Injury update on Niswanger, Albert</span></strong></p><p>Haley said center Rudy Niswanger&rsquo;s injured left knee was being examined Monday, and he is not expected to be available for the game at Jacksonville.</p><p>Although Wade Smith moved from left tackle and replaced Niswanger against San Diego, he may not play the position against Jacksonville. Haley said backup lineman Andy Alleman is a possibility to play, as well as a practice-squad player Darryl Harris. </p><p>&ldquo;We have some center options, Wade being one of them,&rdquo; Haley said.</p><p>Haley also said starting left tackle Branden Albert, who has missed the last two games because of an ankle injury, is expected to practice this week and be available for Jacksonville.