By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Chiefs had to make their first cuts from the 90-man roster this week, but they also added one player - defensive tackle Danny Shelton.
A 6-foot-2, 345-pound lineman who enters his eighth season in the league, Shelton has spent time previously with Cleveland, New England, Detroit and the New York Giants.
He’s worked with the Chiefs a total of two days so far, but Shelton hopes he can stay in Kansas City long term.
"I don't like having to move my dogs, my kids," he said. "If I'm able to contribute and coaches see that...if I'm here longer, then I'm here longer."
Shelton owns 72 career starts, 278 career tackles, 17 career tackles for loss and six career sacks. He looks to be a run stopper and pass rusher up the middle along with Pro Bowler Chris Jones.
Again, it's early, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo says Shelton is still getting "acclimated" and figuring out what exact role he'll have on the defense. Still, Shelton expresses excitement about being in Kansas City.
"We got some ballers on this team," Shelton said. "I'm excited to be here, feed off their energy, play with them, compete with them and go to work."
The Chiefs also signed 13-year pro and defensive end Carlos Dunlap in the early days of training camp.
Further roster cuts
The Chiefs announced Tuesday that they have waived defensive end Austin Edwards and receiver Devin Gray to get their roster down to 85 players, per NFL deadline.
Gray was just signed to the Chiefs from the USFL on August 6. NFL teams will have to cut five more players by next Tuesday with the 53-man roster being decided by August 30.
Good day for the defense
It was a cool, wet morning at Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph Tuesday, and it seemed like the defense played through it well. Solid pass coverage, strong reps in blocking drills, a Justin Reid interception on a tipped ball, quarterback pressure and so on.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo says his players were sluggish Monday coming off of a Saturday game and subsequent travel, but he saw a solid bounce back Tuesday.
"The (second and third-team defense) got a lot of reps and that's a quick turnaround," Spagnuolo said. "That might have had a little bit to do with it. There's really no excuses. That's what we talked about (Monday) night. We can't be wasting any days. I thought we did a nice job bouncing back today."
Injury update
Receiver Juju Smith-Schuster did not work Tuesday due to a sore knee. Blake Bell is still out with a hip flexor injury. Kicker Harrison Butker was back after ankle soreness Monday.
Punter Tommy Townsend was absent for a second straight day for personal reasons. Right tackle Lucas Niang remains on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from knee surgery.
Rashad Fenton - ahead of schedule
Fenton started camp on the PUP list, as he was recovering from a shoulder injury sustained late last season. It wasn't clear as to whether or not he'd be ready to participate in camp.
Fenton came back on August 9, got reacclimated and has now taken his spot back as a top corner on the first-team defense along with L'Jarius Sneed.
Fenton remarked Tuesday that's he's "back to 100%." Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has noticed this, too. He's also noticed Fenton helping the younger corners, like rookies Joshua Williams, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
Each of those rookies saw significant playing time at Chicago last Saturday, and will certainly get more reps in the preseason. Spagnuolo wants to see those youngsters continue to get better.
"To me, it still comes back to how you respond in a game," Spags said. "They've got some more games to go here, and more than anything, how they respond when it doesn't go well. That's really what I have my eye on."
The Chiefs practice Wednesday and Thursday to conclude training camp in 2022. Kansas City will play at home against Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the second preseason game.
Rookie receiver Skyy Moore, who had three catches for 23 yards against Chicago, looks forward to playing at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time as an NFL player.
"I'm anticipating (the atmosphere) being electric," Moore said. "That's what everybody around here just talks about. They say Arrowhead is the best stadium in the league. I'm going to take their word for it until I see otherwise."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.