By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Chiefs Training Camp is now open with quarterbacks and rookies reporting to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes says the Chiefs need to stay hungry even though they are coming off back-to-back Super Bowl victories.
“We’re back in St. Joe, it’s time to get better,” Mahomes tells reporters as training camp officials gets underway. “Every season starts different. You’ve got to come in with the same mentality you had the year before, even a higher intensity. Even though we won the Super Bowl last year, we feel like we didn’t play our best football, especially offensively. It’s our goal to be better that way and we have to come with that mentality every single day.”
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid says training camp prepares the team for a grueling season by sharpening their mental and physical abilities.
“If you’re fatigued then you’re going to be fatigued mentally. If you’re fatigued physically that’s going to affect you mentally. And if you’re fatigued period, then you can’t think and you can’t play, at least not to the best of your ability,” Reid says during the news conference. “So, the objective here is let’s get ourselves in shape, make sure we’re in football shape. They’re all going to come back in shape, but let’s get ourselves in football shape.”
Mahomes says it’s important for the team to sequester itself on the Missouri Western campus and focus on football.
“Being in the building and being at lunch together, being at dinner together, always kind of being around the guys, you build this kind of culture and this family-type brotherhood,” according to Mahomes. “I’m excited to continue to do that with a lot of new faces and then with guys that have been here before, because we know this is what it takes in order for us to go out there and be great.”
Not all the team is in St. Joseph. This week, only the quarterbacks and rookies attend practice. Practices this week are closed to the public. The full team reports Sunday.
Reid values this time to bring the team together and prepare for a tough football season.
“Listen, we look forward to being back here. We love the set up here. The people here treat us great at Missouri Western State University; beautiful facilities,” Reid tells reports standing outside Scanlon Hall, which will be their home for the next few weeks. “It’s great to be able to get away from the city and be able to house guys in the same dorm. I’m saying this as a coach and they probably aren’t going to say this, but it builds a certain camaraderie.”
Chiefs Training Camp begins for the full team Sunday morning with a 9:15am start at MWSU. There is a $5 admission fee for the practice on Sunday, the first open to the public.
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