Andy Reid gives early impressions of Chiefs’ rookie DE Joshua Kaindoh
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid got a first glimpse at his newest players during rookie minicamp this past weekend.
After just one weekend, it’s hard to predict a player’s NFL future. It’s especially difficult when we’re talking about a padless minicamp without a full offensive and defensive line. While he can’t predict what the 2021 NFL season will hold for any of them yet, Reid came away impressed by the Chiefs’ group of rookies.
Fourth-round draft pick Joshua Kaindoh was one of the players to receive praise from Reid following the conclusion of minicamp.
“We’ll see how it all goes, but you’ve got a great work ethic, I mean tremendous work ethic,” Reid told reporters of Kaindoh on Sunday. “He’s very, very intelligent. He’s long. He’s a big human being, and he’s got long arms. He knows how to use them. He has heavy hands, is what they’d say. Then it’s just a matter of him getting used to the scheme. He’s got a tremendous coach, so he’ll get all the fundamentals down and take it step-by-step and eventually go use them. Like I mentioned about Niang, it’s rough on the O-line and D-line right now because they can’t hit anybody and do their thing. It’s versus a bag.”
Minicamps are all about building that foundation, so Kaindoh is probably no worse for wear than a more traditional rookie minicamp with enough players to run team drills. He clearly caught Reid’s eye at practice with the amount of work that he was putting in, in addition to his natural size and ability.
Perhaps Kaindoh caught Reid’s attention because he has already had a “Welcome to the NFL” moment. He seems to have an understanding of what is expected of the players on this team, which is impressive after only having been with Kansas City for a short time.
“What I’ve come to realize is the standards here are high,” Kaindoh told reporters on Friday. “A team of great tradition and a family just like other places. Today I put on that practice jersey, got out on the field—it was a little walkthrough – but definitely a surreal moment just getting out on the field and getting coached up by the coaches here.”
Kaindoh made it clear that he wants to help the team in any way possible as a rookie. He has goals to learn the playbook and get under the wing of a veteran player. He also knows that he has an opportunity to start fresh in the NFL. His time at Florida State didn’t meet the typical expectations that people have for a highly-touted five-star recruit. Now he has a chance to work with the Chiefs’ coaches and become a team player alongside his fellow rookies.
“It’s exciting because I feel like we’re all back on square one,” Kaindoh said. “What we did in the past doesn’t matter and we’re starting a clean slate. We’re all going through the same thing right now and as long as we help each other out we should be straight.”
If Reid’s early impression of Kaindoh is any indication, he’s on the right track.
