By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs finally saw some sunshine in St. Joseph for their 12th training camp practice on Saturday morning after nearly a week straight of rain and overcast conditions.
It was a capacity crowd at Missouri Western State University, as it was Family Fun Day. The team worked for just over an hour in half pads in what’s known as a 10-10-10 practice.
A 10-10-10 features segments of 10 plays where the first-team offense goes against the second defense, the first defense goes against the second-team offense and then special teams periods as well.
There were no new injuries to report. Defensive tackle Charles Omenihu was back on the practice field after missing time with a calf injury, but had limited work. Omenihu can still participate in preseason games and practices, despite his six-game suspension from the NFL for his violation of the personal conduct policy.
Corner Reese Taylor was back after missing time with a hamstring injury and corner Jaylen Watson was back after an excused absence for personal reasons Friday.
Kadarius Toney (knee), L'Jarius Sneed (knee), Mike Danna (calf) and Jody Forston (shoulder) didn't practice. Chris Jones has not yet reported. Isaiah Moore and Nazeeh Johnson are on injured reserve.
Observations
It's hard to take away a lot of meaningful things from a 10-10-10 practice. Half pads means no full contact. First team vs. second team and so forth. These lighter practices are sprinkled int throughout camp, usually before or after a scheduled day off.
Patrick Mahomes a solid day throwing the ball. Surprise, surprise, right? Tight end Matt Bushman made nice plays with both the first and second-team offense. Joshua Williams snagged an INT from Blaine Gabbert on a deep ball intended for Cornell Powell.
Richie James caught a nice deep ball from Mahomes. George Karlaftis had a would-be sack on Gabbert.
But, the only play from Saturday that fans will be talking about is Mahomes' perfect behind the back pass to Skyy Moore in the backfield. Mahomes has been saying he wants to try it in an actual game.
We'll see if that happens, but he's obviously practicing it this camp.
Preseason coming up
We’re just a week away from the Chiefs’ first preseason game at New Orleans on August 13.
Special teams coordinator Dave Toub says the player he’s most excited to watch is rookie running back Deneric Prince, who's been the primary kick returner so far this camp.
"He'll start off as kick returner for us," Toub said of Prince. "I want to see him with live bullets and guys coming down the field. How it'll set up with blocks and how he'll hit it and be strong. Everything I've been seeing in practice I think I'll see in a game, but still gotta see it."
Toub also mentioned that corners Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams will be the primary "gunners" on kickoff coverage. Gunners are those who run at full speed down the sideline on kicks and punts to try and bring down the opposing returner as quickly as possible.
Toub was also asked about the NFL's new fair catch rule, which will take effect this season. If a player fair catches a ball on a kick return inside the 25-yard-line, that ball will then be placed at the 25.
Toub doubts there'll be hardly any fair catches in the preseason, as players try to prove their value on special teams during games and coaches evaluate them. Toub said the Chiefs "won't fair catch" this preseason.
Rookie offensive lineman Wanya Morris, a third-round pick from Oklahoma, looks forward to proving himself during the preseason.
"It's very breathtaking," Morris said. "Being able to step on that field and go out there and compete with my brothers and show everything I've got. It's not done until it's done. I haven't made the 53 (man roster) yet, so gotta go out there and ball."
Safety Justin Reid is now a sixth-year pro entering his second year with the Chiefs. As a starter, he'll see limited snaps in preseason. But, he remembers his first preseason game well.
It was August of 2018, when Houston played at Kansas City. On his very first play, he was charged with covering Travis Kelce, who caught a 13-yard pass on that first play.
Now as a veteran, Reid wants the young players to succeed, but also wants to get back into his in-game routine.
"You just want guys to go out and play fast and see what they can do in a live setting," Reid said. "Difference now is, you know you're going to be starting. You want to make sure you're getting healthy and make sure your routines are right and you're ready to go."
Defensive swagger
The Chiefs’ rookie class last season made an immediate and significant impact, especially on defense.
Joshua Williams, Trent McDuffie, Bryan Cook and Jaylen Watson in the defensive backfield and George Karlaftis on the defensive line.
Linebacker Leo Chenal started eight games as a rookie last season as well, finishing with 41 total tackles and two sacks.
Chenal says the growth on defense from last year to now has been noticeable in training camp.
"The rookies we were last year, going into the season and how heavily we contributed last year, having that confidence in our job," Chenal said. "We're that much better. I think we're playing a lot faster and communicating a lot better than we were last year."
Justin Reid says they’re now trying to help this year’s rookies get acclimated
"Our room is all about helping each other learn it faster," he said. "So, guys ask questions, we answer them. We try to pull guys along as fast as we can. Through as many reps as we get out here on the practice field, they'll get better at it as time goes on."
What's next
The Chiefs are off Sunday and back to work on Monday morning at 9:15. We're down to seven total camp practices remaining.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.