By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs concluded their 13th year of training camp in St. Joseph Thursday with a short, 10-10-10 practice at Missouri Western.
The Chiefs came down the hill an hour earlier than normal at 8 a.m. and worked for just over an hour in half pads.
Head coach Andy Reid has overseen 10 training camps in St. Joseph and was once again very complimentary of Missouri Western's hospitality.
That, and the energy of Chiefs' Kingdom, who sat out in the heat for the last three weeks just to watch practice.
"Thanks to Missouri Western State University here, man," Reid said. "They've been tremendous again for us. Treating us well, feeding us well and the hospitality is second to none."
"And the fans coming out here. They've been incredible every day."
The Chiefs had 19 total training camp practices in St. Joseph since July 23.
There was no official injury report after Thursday's practice. Kadarius Toney (knee), Nikko Remigio (shoulder), Nic Jones (hand), L'Jarius Sneed (knee), Chris Jones and Turk Wharton (knee) didn't practice.
Nick Allegretti (shoulder) was present, but didn't work. Receiver Kekoa Crawford was absent Thursday, but a Chiefs spokesperson said it wasn't due to an injury.
Tight end Jody Forston, who's on injured reserve, revealed on social media Wednesday that he has undergone a successful shoulder surgery.
Kansas City now turns its attention toward their second preseason game at Arizona, which comes up this Saturday at 7 p.m. Coach Reid says the starters will play most of the first half, with the "twos and threes" rotating in the second half.
Patrick Mahomes says he wants the first-team players to get off to a better start than they did this past Sunday when the Saints raced out to a 17-0 lead.
"I just think having a better urgency from the get-go and throughout the entire game," he said. "Not necessarily (about) the result, you obviously want to win, but you want to have that mentality throughout the entire game."
Overall, Mahomes says it was a productive camp for their unit and the entire team.
"We improved on a lot of stuff," he said. "We didn't add a lot of receivers, but getting those new receivers in and flying around. Those guys here for a second year, you could see the improvements in how they practice. I thought it was a good camp. Offense, defense, special teams. We just flew around and competed every day, which is what you always want."
"You started this foundation," Reid said, recounting his final message to the team as camp adjourned.
"This is where it starts. You're building this thing as it goes up. Every week is different. Every day is different in this thing. But, you've accomplished some things here that will help carry you through during the season in a positive way."
Saturday's game at Arizona can be heard on Q Country 92.7 FM and KFEQ (680, 95.3) in St. Joseph.
Mitch Holthus interview with KFEQ on training camp (8-11-23)
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.