By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Friday marked the fifth practice of Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph and the first one in full pads.
Heat indices rose into the mid 90s by the end of the workout that lasted just over 90 minutes. The energy was high, as the team had a fast and physical practice in front of a full house. Up to 8,000 fans were expected at Missouri Western on Friday.
Head coach Andy Reid says it was a strong day of work overall.
"But all-in-all, it was good work today," Reid said. "The guys challenged themselves. It was a little bit of a shorter practice, an hour and 40-minute practice. The guys worked. It was good to get them back in pads and work and challenge each other."
A few players left practice early with injury Friday. Linebacker Drue Tranquill (strained neck), tight end Jody Forston (shoulder) and defensive end Mike Danna (calf).
Linebacker Isaiah Moore (knee) was at practice, but was limited. Receiver Kadarius Toney (knee surgery) and Tershawn Wharton (PUP) weren't present.
Linebacker Nick Bolton was back after missing Wednesday's practice with illness. Defensive tackle Chris Jones has yet to report.
When asked about Jones, Reid says he's had no recent contact with him, and Reid did not give a timeline as to when he might expect the star DT to show up.
Linebacker Willie Gay says his absence leaves a void, but the work hasn't slowed down.
"It'd add a big piece," Gay said. "A big piece that we hope to have. I mean, we can't be out here thinking, 'Dang, I wish Chris were here.' But, we just have to handle things the way they are and roll with it."
Things got a little chippy
It was also plenty hot on Friday during practice, and as it tends to happen at training camp sometimes, things got a bit chippy.
Travis Kelce was seen getting into a verbal exchange with corner DiCaprio Bootle and safety Bryan Cook, as there was some contact made after the play was over.
Cook says it’s nothing to worry about going forward
"Kind of nice for me to get into a scuffle a little bit," Cook said. "I see you Kelce! You have a little fire under you. That stuff also does encourage us to be more passionate about it, because it's a blessing to be out there. It depends on how you look at it, but for me, we're just trying to get to practice, do my job, get the reps as much as possible. Just continue to learn."
Reid doesn't condone fighting at training camp, but he's not overly concerned as long as the conflicts remain verbal and don't escalate to physical
"They're gonna jaw," Reid said. "It's hot, humid. They're gonna jaw a little bit. Just as long as there's no punches thrown, we're alright. They're going to talk a little bit, but that happens."
Other observations
Patrick Mahomes wasted no time getting the crowd energized Friday morning. On the second play of 11-on-11 team drills, he fired a pass deep down the field, which was caught by Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who hauled it in for a score.
Mahomes was also picked off in team drills by Mike Edwards. Edwards was able to get in front of an underthrown ball intended for Skyy Moore.
The Chiefs continued to mix in a lot of personnel at cornerback. Jaylen Watson worked with the first-team defense primarily, while Joshua Williams and Nazeeh Johnson rotated between the first and second team.
Nic Jones also had a solid day Friday. He and Johnson each came up with great pass breakups against the first-team offense.
The Chiefs are back to work on Saturday morning at 9:15.
Video recap
Caught on tape
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