By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Contributing on special teams is especially important for young players in the NFL trying to make the roster, or even the practice squad.
Several newcomers on the Kansas City Chiefs got to see their first game action this past Sunday in New Orleans during a preseason game with the Saints - many of them on special teams.
Special teams coach Dave Toub says several guys did solid work on the field.
"Nic Jones, I thought showed up, did a good job, but he hurt his hand obviously," Toub said. "He'll be back. Anthony Cook did a nice job. He showed up. These are some new faces. Cam Jones did a nice job."
Toub was also pleased with Richie James in punt return and Deneric Prince in kick return.
"Everybody played so we were happy with that," Toub said. "The effort was excellent. I thought the guys played extremely hard. In the return game, I'd like to see Prince get some more (reps)."
As for Wednesday's practice, receivers Ihmir-Smith Marsette and Justyn Ross were back to work after getting dinged up on Tuesday. Safety Mike Edwards was a full participant after being present without a helmet on Tuesday.
Receiver Kadarius Toney (knee), receiver Nikko Remigio (shoulder), corner Nic Jones (hand), defensive tackle Turk Wharton (knee) and corner L’Jarius Sneed (knee) remain sidelined.
Offensive guard Nick Allegretti left practice early Tuesday with a shoulder injury.
Notes and observations
The Chiefs worked for about two hours in full pads on another pleasant, sunny day in St. Joseph with temperatures in the upper 60s by the start of practice.
The team did a heavy load of goal line and red zone scenarios, with periods of the first-team offense going against the second-team defense and vice versa.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire got the vast majority of snaps at running back with the first-team offense and performed well, scoring on a touchdown run and also catching a touchdown pass.
Receiver Richie James had strong reps with both the first and second-team offense.
During the final team period, it was ones vs. ones, as the offense lined up at the 20-yard line in a red zone scenario. On the first play of that drive, Jerick McKinnon got the carry and ran into a pile of linemen, where Joshua Williams and Mike Edwards tried to strip the ball out of his arms after the whistle.
Tight end Travis Kelce took exception to this, and he was seen getting into a shoving match with Williams, and then players from both sides intervened trying to break up the scrum.
The tussle was short lived, but it was fairly intense there for a moment, as Patrick Mahomes could be heard yelling 'Stop!' trying to break it up.
Roster evaluation
The Chiefs won’t cut any of their 91 players from the roster until August 29, when NFL teams are required to narrow down the active roster to 53 players and the practice squad to 16.
In the past, cuts were made on a week-to-week basis leading up to the regular season. This time, it’s only one big roster cut.
Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borganzi says this benefits coaches, management and players in the evaluation period.
"It gives us another opportunity, another week to evaluate these guys," Borganzi said. "Where we had to move on from them before, but maybe they showed something in practice or in the preseason games, so I think it's good for everybody."
Borganzi says this evaluation period also means studying other teams and looking at other players that could be acquired.
"We're going to evaluate these next few weeks our roster and evaluate the entire league," he said. "We're going to add value to where we feel we need to. We're trying to get the best 53-man (roster) and best 16-man practice squad heading into the first game."
Waiting on Chris Jones
There’s one training camp practice to go, and there’s been no sign of Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, as he waits on a contract extension and pay raise from the front office.
Communication and negotiations between the two parties have reportedly been at a lull, as Jones wasn’t seen during the first preseason game either.
Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen says he’s been in touch with Jones about various things and is anxious to get him back.
"Chris, in my opinion, was as good as, if not the best defensive player in the league last year," Cullen said. "I do stay in touch with Chris. I was expecting a million questions on Chris. He's working hard and we'll welcome him with open arms when he gets back here."
Jones will be fined $50,000 for each training camp practice he missed. There’s no timeline or expectation as to when he may rejoin the team.
What's next
The Chiefs conclude their 2023 training camp schedule on Thursday with an early workout at 8:15 a.m. This will be a shorter 10-10-10 practice. It will also be Military Appreciation Day at camp. The Chiefs will have completed 19 training camp practices in St. Joseph.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.