4 takeaways from Day 6 of Chiefs training camp
The Kansas City Chiefs held their second padded training camp practice of the year on Tuesday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri.
This practice was a bit longer and more intense than the first padded practice, as players got a chance to crank up the intensity a bit more than before. The day featured a big-time piece returning to practice and some exciting plays on the defensive side of the ball. We also learned a bit more about where the team stands at some key positions on defense and special teams.
Here’s a look at four of the things we’re taking away from the team’s second padded practice.
Orlando Brown Jr. makes his return to practice
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The Chiefs welcomed back their starting left tackle on Tuesday. Orlando Brown Jr. ended his holdout and officially rejoined the team for practice. He wasn’t a full participant and left practice early, but that was planned by the team as they get him acclimated after not participating during the voluntary offseason workout program.
“I was excited to get out there and get some live reps, man,” Brown told reporters. “Obviously, I’ve been doing a ton of stuff, training on my own and stuff like that. It felt good to get out there with the guys.
“I missed a lot of ball up until this point. I miss the locker room, the coaches, everyone here in the building and I know how important this five-day stretch is to Coach Reid and everybody here in Kansas City. It didn’t feel right, sitting at home, missing out on this. It’s just something that I wanted to be a part of, man. I was brought here to help win Super Bowls and this week is very important to our progression.”
Brown Jr.’s first action in camp wasn’t exactly the most encouraging. He participated in individual work, 9-on-7 drills, and 1-on-1 drills. He struggled in this 1-on-1 repetition against Mike Danna, though these drills were never exactly his strong suit.
Chiefs LT Orlando Brown’s first rep in 1 on 1’s pic.twitter.com/DU2jKEJFto
— Steve Walls (@SteveWallsKC) August 2, 2022
That said, Brown Jr. showed up to training camp looking slimmer and he said all of the right things during his post-practice press conference. It’s clear that he values being viewed as a leader. It’s also clear that participating in these practices was something that was important to him.
Linebackers very active in the run game on Tuesday
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs’ linebacker group probably were the biggest defensive stars for Kansas City during Tuesday’s practice. A trio of players had standout plays behind the line of scrimmage.
Rookie LB Leo Chenal delivered to RB Ronald Jones what was by all accounts, one of the most crushing hits during training camp so far. He was someone who was really excited for the pads to come on and he’s been plugging some holes on defense so far. His performance has been so impressive through two practices that he seems to be earning more and more time with the first-team defense.
Chenal wasn’t the only player to get in on the fun, though. Willie Gay Jr. came crashing through the line of scrimmage to tackle rookie RB Isiah Pacheco for a big loss during team drills. Jermaine Carter Jr. also had a similar play where he met Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the backfield and brought him down for a big loss.
Uncle Dave is rebuilding the special teams group
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time when it comes to identifying special teams contributors. Dave Toub spoke to the media on Tuesday, explaining that he’s basically starting from scratch with the number of contributors he lost last season.
“You know we lost like six guys,” Toub said. “On special teams, I lost like six four-phase players. So we’ve got to replace them with guys.”
Toub identified eight players who can potentially replace some of those snaps that the team lost. At the same time, he explained that the evaluation process is ongoing and will persist through the final preseason game. The team doesn’t have any live special teams periods for kick and punt coverage during training camp practices. Those specific periods and the players participating need to be evaluated by the team during the course of the preseason.
Jaylen Watson gets run with the first team defense
AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann
On Tuesday, the Chiefs changed up their starting rotation at cornerback just a little bit. Trent McDuffie and Joshua Williams had been the two rookies getting snaps with the first team defense to this point, but Jaylen Watson got involved in place of Williams during the latest practice. He had an up-and-down day working against some tougher competition.
On one play against WR Mecole Hardman, he went to jam him at the line of scrimmage and missed. On another play during team period, Watson broke up a Patrick Mahomes pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster where he looked like he belonged. Overall, it seems like Kansas City is still working through their cornerback depth and trying to find the right combination of players.
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