Tyreek Hill leaves field early during Kansas City Chiefs’ first camp practice in pads
Early into the Chiefs’ first full pads practice of training camp on Tuesday morning at Missouri Western, starting wide receiver Tyreek Hill was already taking them off.
Barely half an hour into practice, Hill went to the sidelines. He spent around 15 minutes lifting weights in the medical tent and then on the sidelines before putting the pads back on and walking out of practice just before 10 a.m.
After Tuesday’s practice, head coach Andy Reid said Hill’s exit was to err on the side of caution.
“Tyreek Hill has a little bit of knee tendonitis, we’re just (going to) kind of pump the brakes on it,” Reid said. “It just showed up today, so we backed off on it.”
With Hill out, Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman all worked with the ones in three-receiver sets.
Other players sidelined by injuries were safety Juan Thornhill (groin strain), cornerback Chavarius Ward, whose eye flared up after it was poked, wide receiver Chad Williams (groin strain), tight end Nick Keizer and tackle Mike Remmers (both with back spasms) and running back Darwin Thompson (COVID-19 protocols).
Safety Juan Thornhill (groin) joined offensive lineman Kyle Long (knee) at the rehabilitation area.
THE COMPETITION BEGINS
It took a little more than an hour before it happened, and it was like a scene from a movie.
After a full team period, the offensive line and defensive line groups made their way to the far south end zone and squared off for one of the more highly anticipated moments of training camp.
Full one-on-one drills in pads finally arrived.
“I love putting on the pads, just able to get more physical,” said defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, who went around center Austin Blythe with a spin move during the drills. “It was good to get physical, and then just conditioning, as well. I like to think I’m in good shape, but when you put the pads on, it will wake you up a little bit.”
Defensive end Alex Okafor agreed.
“That first day is always fun,” Okafor said. “Whenever we’re out here in jerseys and whatnot, that’s not football. I mean, some guys can’t show unless they’re physical. Physicality is part of the game, physicality allows you to play, and you can’t do that with nothing but pads on.”
The two position groups commanded so much that attention that general manager Brett Veach and numerous members of the team’s pro personnel department, including Mike Borgonzi and Ryan Poles, made their way to the far end zone to observe the drills.
Here are some takeaways from the first-team offensive linemen during the drills:
- Left guard Joe Thuney, a prized free-agent signing, looks the part as a wall on the offensive line. He barely budged during his one-on-one battles against the interior linemen.
- Rookie center Creed Humphrey, who has worked with the first team since organized team activities, has a nice block on defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. The two met at the line of scrimmage at the snap and Humphrey didn’t budge.
- Rookie right guard Trey Smith, a favorite to open the season as a starter, gave way to defensive tackle Jarran Reed on a repetition. On the very next repetition, however, Smith made up for it by stonewalling Reed.
- Right tackle Lucas Niang, who worked with the starters because of Mike Remmers nursing a back injury, struggled against defensive end Frank Clark.
- Chris Jones, who is playing more at defensive end with the arrival of Reed, produced the pass rush of the one-on-one drills. At the snap of the ball, Jones power-rushed left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and put the offensive lineman on the ground. Brown later struggled against the speed rush of second-year defensive end Mike Danna, who got around the left tackle with consecutive dip moves.
While both sides had their moments, Wharton left no doubt who won the first round of one-on-one battles between the two groups.
“I’m going to say D-line,” Wharton said with a grin.
OBSERVATIONS
- During another one-on-one battle, this one pitting receivers against defensive backs, tight end Travis Kelce torched cornerback L’Jarius Sneed for a deep catch. Wide receiver Mecole Hardman also beat Sneed with a nifty catch on a deep pass. Hardman reached out at the last possible second and made a fingertip grab, which drew a roar from the fans.
- Wide receiver Marcus Kemp has a good outing with two touchdowns during separate team drills. On the first drill, the starting offense caught the defense in a zone coverage. Kemp worked his way through the open spot and quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the easy completion. Kemp then found daylight after the catch and ran it in for a score.
- With the pads on, linebackers had their chance to put a hit on offensive players. Dorian O’Daniel met running back Elijah McGuire in the hole during 11-on-11 drills. The Chiefs aren’t tackling to the ground, so O’Daniel applied the hit, then let McGuire go.
- Tight end Jody Fortson’s strong training camp continued Tuesday with a nice catch from quarterback Chad Henne. Fortson has done nothing but impress and has found repetitions with the first- and second-team units in a rotational role.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
