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3 takeaways from Chiefs rookie minicamp Day 1

The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their rookie minicamp on Friday. Rookies hit the field for the first time with their new team, getting in team meetings and a brief walkthrough. Following the walkthrough, three rookie draft picks — Nick Bolton, Creed Humphrey and Joshua Kaindoh — spoke to the media, providing insight into their first day with Kansas City.

Below you’ll find three quick takeaways from what they had to say:

Minicamp goals

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When prompted on their goals for rookie minicamp, each of the Chiefs' rookies said all of the right things. Everyone is focused and ready, knowing that this is their chance to dive in and make a first impression on the coaching staff. For Chiefs rookie linebacker Nick Bolton, he's focusing on soaking up everything he can from the playbook and from his new coaches. He wants to know what it takes to be a Kansas City Chief. "At the end of the day, I'm just trying to grow and learn the playbook," Bolton said. "I'm not really trying to prove anything, just soak everything up. Learn the basics, the fundamentals, how they practice, just how to become a Kansas City Chief and be a practice player. So, I'm just doing that every single day. That's kind of what I hope to accomplish. Proving myself, learning the playbook and also just how to be a Chief." Fourth-round pick Joshua Kaindoh is also focused on learning his playbook, but he also wants to prove that he can play the NFL game at a high level. "Learning the playbook, just like I've learned any other playbook," Kaindoh said. "I've never really had a problem with that. What I want to show? I just want to show that I can play ball, just like anybody else, you know?" For Creed Humphrey, he's not concerned about becoming a starter or where he'll play. Instead, he's just out to prove that he can be coached up. "Just that I'm coachable," Humphrey said. "That I take coaching well and that I'm going to work my butt off, making sure I'm doing all the right things. Showing them that I'm a loyal guy, that I'm a team-first guy. Just getting out there and competing."

Finding veteran mentors

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While Chiefs rookies will almost exclusively be working with other rookies this week, they're also all out to learn as much as possible. Many of them have hopes of finding veteran mentors. For a player like Humphrey, who is coming into a very competitive position group, he's just looking to get all the tips that he can. "A lot of these guys a top-notch guys, very helpful," Humphrey said. "They've played a lot of football too. So, getting to learn from these guys, just kind of the ins and outs of how they do things is going to be huge for me. I'm excited to get to work with all of them." While Humphrey is taking a more general approach, Joshua Kaindoh has some specific goals in mind when it comes to what he wants to learn from the veterans. He wants to last in the NFL and last in Kansas City, so he's looking to learn the secret to that longevity from his new veteran teammates. "It's a blessing to be here, but I want to stay here," Kaindoh said. "So, hopefully, the veterans in front of me, I can ask them like, 'Hey, what do you do to make sure your body is right and stuff?' So just learn the ropes of it and just figure out how to stay here for as long as I can." One player, second-round pick Nick Bolton, has already connected with one of his soon-to-be mentors in the Kansas City locker room. "Yeah, I've talked to Hitch (Anthony Hitchens)," Bolton said. "That's one of my guys. He was actually down there in Dallas when I was down there, so I texted him quite a bit. We talked a lot, so just looking forward to building that relationship."

Kansas City BBQ is on the mind

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Chiefs rookies can never escape being asked about Kansas City barbecue, except of course for the ones that bring it up willfully. Many are likely in the same boat as Joshua Kaindoh, having never been to Missouri, but having familiarity with the food that has made the area iconic. "I've never been here before, it's my first time here, but I always hear about the barbecue," Kaindoh said. "So I'm waiting to try that out." While Kaindoh hasn't tried out any barbecue yet, his new teammate Creed Humphrey already ate at two different restaurants. "(I ate at) Jack Stack and Arthur Bryant's so far," Humphrey said. "They were both top-notch. You know, they were really good. I couldn't choose a favorite right now." I expect that after Humphrey tries a few more spots, we'll have to revisit the question of which is his favorite. [vertical-gallery id=93015]

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