Chiefs Wrap Up Rookie Mini-Camp; OTAs Next
by Bob gretz
The smoke cleared early Monday afternoon for the 65 players taking part in the Chiefs rookie mini-camp.
After three practices over the Memorial Day weekend, Andy Reid and his coaching staff put their camp roster through some quick and intense work that tested them mentally and physically. It wasn’t quite football, but it was as close as the league rules would allow.
With more than five dozen young men trying to grab attention from the coaching staff, it’s impossible to legislate against physical contact. In Monday’s session, a couple of guys wearing No. 48 collided in the end zone; it was tight end Dustin Greenwell and safety Shann Schillinger. Both tryout players walked away, but it caught the head coach’s attention.
“Let’s be smart out here,” Reid loudly told his team. “Smart, smart, smart.”
It turned out to be a very “smart” mini-camp as the Chiefs started with 65 players and went through Monday’s practice with 64 players. Only nose tackle Risean Broussard went down with an injury, tweaking a knee that Reid said was not a serious problem.
“It was good to get through this camp and work with these guys,” Reid said. “It was great to get some of the guys that have been here for a few weeks some work with plays with helmets on and working offense against defense.
“It’s been a good lead in to Phase III, and that begins (Tuesday).”
Per the labor agreement, the off-season program for players is divided into three phases over essentially a 10-week period. Phase I involves conditioning, weight lifting and some meeting time. In Phase II they can add walkthrough sessions on the practice field but can’t go offense against defense. Phase III allows for structured practices with players wearing helmets and offense going against defense. It all ends with the team’s full-squad mini-camp in the middle of June.
“I gave the veterans time off this past weekend, and they’ll all be showing tomorrow and ready to go.”
The Chiefs roster currently stands at the NFL limit of 90 players under contract for the 2014 season, but there figures to be a few changes in the landscape after evaluation of the rookie mini-camp and the 35 players that took part on a tryout basis.
“There’s a tremendous amount of competition,” Reid said of the Chiefs roster situation right now. “You see those kids that have not been with other teams that we invited as tryouts for this camp and there’s not a huge drop-off; there are some quality athletes.”
Reid allowed that a few of tryout players would find their way onto the roster.
“I don’t think it would be a huge number,” he said.
A few other tidbits from the rookie mini-camp:
– The head coach said it appeared that first-round choice outside linebacker Dee Ford spent a lot of time learning his new position. “I think he’s done a great job of jumping in the book and learning the drops and the things you need to do in pass coverage. It’s not an easy thing. I’m happy with what he’s done there.”
– Reid said sixth-round draft choice Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is probably more suited to play guard than tackle. “I’d tell you he’s more natural at guard than tackle,” Reid said. “We want to make sure he learns both.”
– L.D.T. showed quick improvement over three days at both guard and tackle. “A lot of this is new for him and we understood that,” said Reid. “We knew it was going to be big jump for him. That’s a position that you can develop. It’s going to take some time, but you can see he’s intelligent, he’s a hard worker and you can see he’s a tough kid. Those are things you like to work with on the offensive line.”
– At last year’s rookie mini-camp tight end Demetrius Harris was a basketball player, but Reid said he’s now a football player and showing some obvious talents. “I think this camp was great for him; I thought he played exceptionally well,” Reid said. “He’s so big and he’s worked so stinkin’ hard in that weight room, he’s lived in that weight room and you can tell, he’s functionally stronger.”