By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Wednesday marked the second day of full pads practice for the Chiefs at training camp, and there was live tackling for the first time early in team drills.
Tight ends Travis Kelce and Noah Gray, along with receivers Mecole Hardman and Marcus Kemp, all had a solid day Wednesday.
Kelce says Gray, the rookie out of Duke, has been especially impressive and is learning quickly.
"What Noah is doing a great job is just getting in that playbook," Kelce said, "and being able to go out there on the snap of the ball and play with confidence and play fast. From there, it's every rep. Every rep, you learn something."
Kelce also commended Hardman, who's shown pretty terrific speed all throughout camp.
"Mecole is running so dang fast out there, man," Kelce remarked. "Those little things that can help him get open even more are really going to help this football team."
Hardman and Kemp each caught some deep balls Wednesday, while Kelce and Gray really stood out during tight end vs. linebacker drills.
Another tight end who's turned heads this camp is Jody Forston, who's worked mainly in the second offense. Blake Bell has also gotten some quality reps with both the first and second team.
"Right now, we have a great room," Kelce said of the tight ends. "We're definitely going to make it tough on Coach Reid and (general manager) Brett Veach to single it down to a few guys. Everybody is out there playing fast, playing aggressive and playing great football."
Injuries
Linebacker Willie Gay, who's arguably been the star on defense in this camp, left practice early Wednesday. He’s in concussion protocol, according to a team spokesperson.
Gay had gotten a pass break-up early in Wednesday's practice before he walked over to the medical tent and eventually went up the hill.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo credits both Gay and rookie Nick Bolton as two youngsters who have grasped things quickly.
"I know their names come up a lot because they're both young," Spagnuolo said. "I will say this - both of those guys work as hard as anybody on this defense. So, I'm real pleased."
Elsewhere injury wise, defensive end Alex Okafor left practice early Wednesday due to a hamstring. Receiver Tyreek Hill (knee tendonitis) did not practice at all Wednesday. Nor did corner DeAndre Baker, though it's not clear why he sat out.
Others who did not practice Wednesday include Evan Baylis (ankle), Nick Keizer (back), Chad Williams (groin), Kyle Long (knee), Malik Herring (knee) and Mike Remmers (back).
One-on-one drills
The offensive and defensive linemen had a chance to go at it one-on-one Wednesday. Chris Jones, who's playing multiple positions along the D-line, got around both Orlando Brown, Jr. and Joe Thuney several times.
Rookie Trey Smith, who's been seeing time at right guard in the first-team offense, really held his own against six-year pro Jarran Reed. Brown struggled a bit again, but was able to bury Taco Charlton toward the end of the drill.
Harrison Butker
Entering his fifth season with the Chiefs, Butker says he's been making field goals of 60 yards or more this camp, but it's not range that Butker is focusing on as much. As he told reporters Wednesday, he's working mainly on kicking the ball a bit higher and straighter.
Butker was 25-of-27 on field goals last season with a long of 58. He did six point-afters, however.
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