Chiefs’ full squad takes the field ... without Breeland
Cornerback Bashaud Breeland’s NFL free agency tour continues, but it has moved on from St. Joseph. After spending most of Wednesday strolling around the Chiefs practice field, palling around with members of the coaching staff and front office, and then sauntering past the media and into the dorms in the afternoon, he left town without signing a contract.
The Chiefs, sans Breeland, opened training camp with the first full-squad practice and fans in attendance at Missouri Western on Thursday. The defensive backfield featured a first-team cornerback group with Steven Nelson and David Amerson at the outside spots and Kendall Fuller defending the slot.
In this day and age of the high-powered passing attacks across the NFL — seven teams, including the Chiefs threw for more than 4,100 yards last season — there’s a premium on starting-caliber defensive backs as well as overall depth at that position.
“We feel pretty good about the corners we have here,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “The thing I would tell you is you can’t have enough of those guys. Brett (Veach) is always keeping his eyes open. Nothing has been done. He’s (Breeland) not here, but they’re still talking. We’ll just see how things work out.”
Breeland, a fifth-year corner who spent his first four seasons with Washington, reportedly spent Thursday visiting the Indianapolis Colts and remains slated to also visit the Cleveland Browns. His final decision on where he’ll sign could come as early as Saturday, according to Eric Edholm of Pro Football Weekly.
Breeland agreed to a deal with Carolina in March, but failed a physical due to a foot injury. The failed physical prompted Carolina to void the three-year $24 million contract offer, and it has made him a hot free-agent commodity this summer. He visited Oakland prior to his trip to Chiefs camp.
“We kept him here for a while,” said Fuller, a teammate of Breeland’s the past two seasons in Washington. “We had lunch together and things like that. We’re definitely in his ear.”
Breeland and Amerson also played together in Washington in 2014 and 2015 prior to Amerson playing for Oakland the past three seasons. Breeland started 57 games in the past four seasons, and he also returned kicks for Washington last season.
“Any time you can add a guy it’s definitely fun, especially with me being with Bree,” Fuller said. “But no matter who is out there we’re going to have high expectations. We’re all going to compete with each other, push each other no matter what group is out there. We’ve just got to keep going. Depth is key, so we’ve just go to keep on getting everybody better.”
Amerson and Fuller were both offseason additions to a revamped cornerback unit that saw Marcus Peters traded to the Los Angeles Rams and Terrance Mitchell sign with Cleveland. Nelson, who started 21 games the past two seasons for the Chiefs, had an interception in second defensive team period of Thursday’s practice.
Third-year inside linebacker Reggie Ragland started camp on the non-football injury list, according to Reid. Reid said Ragland’s knee “puffed up” when he flew into the area for camp. Reid said Ragland has had great workouts and has appeared to be in great shape, but the team opted for a precautionary approach.
Ragland, who started 10 of the 12 games he played and made 44 tackles last season, spent the 2016 season on injured reserve with Buffalo due to a torn ACL suffered in training camp that year.
With Ragland on the sideline watching practice, second-year man Ukeme Eligwe received first-team reps at inside linebacker next to offseason acquisition Anthony Hitchens, and Terrance Smith also rotated in with the first unit.
Safety Armani Watts also did not participate in practice. Watts, a fourth-round draft pick this spring out of Texas A&M, strained his ankle earlier in the week during the period of camp designated for rookies, quarterbacks and select veterans coming off injuries.
Wide receiver Elijah Marks, wide receiver Josh Crockett (illness) and cornerback Ashton Lampkin (knee surgery) were also not participating in practice.
Center Mitch Morse did participate, but worked primarily with the second unit while Cam Erving took first-team reps at center. Reid said the plan is to work Morse, a three-year starter, back into the lineup slowly after he missed much of last season with a foot injury that forced him onto the injured reserve list in December.
The first-team defense and first-team offense did not face off on the first day of practice. First-year starting quarterback and second-year pro Patrick Mahomes enjoyed a sharp day throwing the ball against the defensive reserves. Mahomes completed 19 of 23 passes in the team periods, including a no-huddle, two-minute segment near the end of practice.
This story was originally published July 26, 2018 at 8:55 PM.