Some plays stood out: Observations from the Kansas City Chiefs’ second week of OTAs

Patrick Mahomes is back on the Chiefs practice field, a bit earlier than expected after offseason toe surgery, but still throwing darts to receivers, adjusting to a new offensive line and, well, experimenting.

You might know Mahomes for the last quality already — throwing a no-look, left-handed or underhand pass. Or putting himself in motion before the snap. That all derived from his imagination.

And there’s no better time to try those things, he says, than now, during organized team activities (OTAs).

“I think the biggest thing is you get to experiment a little more,” Mahomes said after the Chiefs wrapped up their second week of the voluntary on-field work Thursday. “When you get to training camp, you kinda have to be refined and are refining things. You’re trying to get ready for the season against different teams, different defenses and stuff like that.

“That’s a big part of why we came in to do the OTAs. I know they’re voluntary. But we’re able to experiment and not go extremely hard but still be able to get some good work in, get the guys together, build that chemistry and be a part of the team.”

That’s what the Chiefs — and ever other NFL team, for that matter — missed last summer, their offseason limited to Zoom calls to abide by COVID-19 restrictions. Some players across the league opted to skip the in-person voluntary practices this season, too, but the Chiefs maintained high attendance into the second week.

They worked exclusively on passing plays Thursday, without pads and without linemen engaging in blocks.

“(This) gives the guys an opportunity to get out of the weight room and do some football,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “If they don’t do it here, they’re going to do it on their own, and we got good facilities and fields for them. If everybody’s smart with it, you can get a whole lot done, in particular some of the new stuff you want to work on or some of the things from your offseason studies.”

Here are our observations from the final day of the second week of OTAs:

Participation report

Mahomes and tight Travis Kelce finished the week after they flew to Hawaii last week for Mahomes’ charity golf tournament.

But several players were not spotted on the field Thursday: running backs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams, offensive linemen Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Martinas Rankin, defensive linemen Frank Clark, Chris Jones, Jarran Reed and Taco Chalrton and defensive backs Mike Hughes, Charvarius Ward and Armani Watts.

Safeties Juan Thornhill and Rodney Clemons, cornerback Deandre Baker and defensive lineman Malik Herring were present but did not participate in practice.

The Chiefs cut linebacker Kamalei Correa on Thursday.

Key plays

The team’s media rules prohibit reporters from sharing information on personnel (including which players are participating with the first-, second- or third-team units), specific formations, trick plays and statistics.

But reporters are permitted to include general observations and notable plays, such as:

• Will Parks had a big day for the defense, intercepting both Chad Henne and Shane Buechele. He also had a pass break-up. Parks, 26, signed with the Chiefs this offseason after 66 career games with the Broncos and six with the Eagles. He was Denver’s sixth-round pick in 2016.

• Mahomes lofted a rainbow deep ball that fell perfectly into the arms of wide receiver Mecole Hardman over the middle of the field. Hardman hauled in the catch over his shoulder, just narrowly beating the tight coverage of L’Jarius Sneed.

• It wasn’t all perfect, though. While trying to squeeze in a pass to Antonio Callaway, Mahomes was intercepted by Rashad Fenton.

• Buechele lofted a ball to wide receiver Daurice Fountain, who not only hauled in a deep catch but fought off a hold to do it. The Chiefs signed Fountain last month after he tried out during rookie minicamp.

• Hardman and fellow wide receiver Gehrig Dieter made nice catches on dart throws in the end zone from Mahomes and Henne respectively, the latter drawing a loud reaction from the offensive players on the sideline.

What’s next for Chiefs this offseason

They will return for one final round of voluntary OTA workouts next week, from June 8-11, before holding their mandatory three-day minicamp June 15-17.

This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 3:32 PM.