KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rookie Daniel Thomas shared some laughs with star running back Reggie Bush on Sunday afternoon in the Miami Dolphins locker room.
Miami had just administered a 31-3 spanking to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. It was the first win of the season for the Dolphins, who had lost their first seven games, a welcome sight in what has been a trying 2011 campaign.
“It’s been tough,” said Thomas, a two-time Big 12 Conference rushing champion during his two-year career at Kansas State (2009-2010). “We’ve been in a lot of games and we’ve always ended up coming up short.
“To pull this one off is really a good feeling.”
Thomas finds himself backing up Bush, who is in his first year with the Dolphins after spending the previous five seasons with the New Orleans Saints.
Thomas said he welcomes Bush’s mentoring. After all, we’re talking about one of the most electrifying players in the NFL, a consummate playmaker in every shape and form.
“Reggie is a guy that makes big plays,” Thomas said, “so I don’t have any problem with that at all.
“Reggie is a great running back. He can do everything. You can line him up at receiver and run some routes. He’s the total package.”
Bush rushed 13 times for a team-high 92 yards and a touchdown against Kansas City, a 28-yard burst with 6:41 left in the third quarter. It extended the Dolphins’ lead to 28-3 and provided the final dagger to the Chiefs.
Bush extended his career total to 314 receptions, the most of any running back in the league since 2006. With his three receptions for 50 yards against Kansas City, he also leads all NFL running backs over the last five years with 2,289 pass-catching yards.
Moreover, only Brian Westbrook of the San Francisco 49ers and formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Darren Sproles have more receiving TDs than Bush. Westbrook has 16, Sproles has 14 and Bush has 13.
Ironically, the Saints signed Sproles, formerly of the San Diego Chargers, as a free agent to replace Bush.
“I’m with a new team and in a new environment,” Bush said. “I’ve been trying to find my identity within this team and being a leader and helping out guys and at the same time, being a playmaker that I know that they brought me in here to be.
“The last few games, I have been getting in a rhythm and I’m really getting a good feel for this offense.”
The game plan for the Dolphins against the Chiefs was simple: blow the opponent off the line of scrimmage and give the ball to Bush in a variety of ways.
“We felt like during the week that we could exploit them in the run game,” Miami quarterback Matt Moore said. “We had some misdirection plays and a few times, we caught them off-guard.
 “Early on, he squirted through some holes and he makes people miss. That’s a credit to his game, and credit the offensive line.”
Bush says it all starts up front.
 “Our success begins with an offensive line, and we felt like our O-line did a great job of protecting Matt and gave him time to throw the ball,” Bush said. “In the running game, it really made it easier for me and Daniel to just go out become playmakers and open some holes.”
In limited action against the Chiefs, Thomas had seven carries for 12 yards.
Thomas, who rushed for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns his junior season at Kansas State, increased his productivity to 1,585 yards and 19 TDs in 2010.
Thomas was a second-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Dolphins, the No. 62 pick overall. As the labor dispute loomed for much of the summer, he stayed the course and kept working out.
 “The preseason was kind of rough,” Thomas said. “Everything was moving so fast and I was like, ‘Man, the speed of the game is really fast.’
“It’s a learning experience and then I got game reps and I got more comfortable.”
Thomas has been bothered by hamstring problems, something he had to deal with when he played at Kansas State, sometimes attributed to a lack of hydration.
“It’s definitely more than that,” Thomas said, “because you look around the league and you have at least three guys on every team with hamstring injuries and things like that.
“I’m kind of bouncing back from injury and trying to get back in a groove.”
Thomas made a big splash in his first regular-season NFL game, becoming only the second player in franchise history to break the 100-yard plateau. He rushed for 107 yards on 18 carries on Sept. 18 in a loss to Houston.
Former running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar set the mark on Sept. 1, 1996, totaling 115 yards in 26 carries against the New England Patriots.
After a record-setting career at USC, where Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy, he was the No. 3 overall selection in the 2006 draft by the Saints. He set a new standard for NFL rookie running backs that season, catching 88 passes while finishing with 742 receiving yards, the third-most in league history for a first-year player.
In 2010, Bush, under pressure, became the first player to surrender his Heisman, this coming long after his spectacular 2005 campaign, rushing for 1,740 yards and 18 touchdowns while helping lead USC to the national title game against Texas.
During a four-year investigation, NCAA learned of lavish gifts Bush and his family members received from two marketing agents and hit the Trojans football program with harsh penalties, including the loss of 30 football scholarships over three years and vacating 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season.
Sadly, now, there is no mention of Bush’s numerous accomplishments at USC.
USC beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game on Jan. 4, 2005, and captured 12 wins during his Heisman season, although it lost to Texas in the 2006 championship game.