Chiefs' position coaches speak about roster growth ahead of cuts
Aug. 16—The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up their second-to-last training camp practice at Missouri Western on Wednesday as the team works to round out its 53-man roster come Aug. 29.
On the injury front, wide receiver Nikko Remigio was out after dislocating his shoulder on Tuesday. Cornerbacks Nic Jones and L'Jarius Sneed did not practice, along with receiver Kadarius Toney and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton.
After practice, the position coaches took to the podium, starting with assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
Coming into last season, the Chiefs utilized the 2022 NFL Draft to plug holes in the special teams unit. That youth and inexperience showed as the special teams unit was a glaring weakness through various points in the season. Coming into this season, he likes one athlete returning kicks.
"In the return game, I'd like to see (Deneric) Prince get some more. I mean, we left the guy unblocked in the first one and got hit on that one," Toub said about Prince's preseason contest. "I still want to see him, you know, I want to see him get some more next week."
The Chiefs' special teams unit dropped from No. 7 to No. 19 in special teams unit grades. Now with the NFL's rule change for kickoff returns, it could lead to even greater overall success moving forward despite another rookie class.
"I'm trying to evaluate our kickoff team right now, and we know that teams are going to fair catch it now," Toub said. "The best thing to do is take a high kick down to the goal line so you can create hang time, let your guys get down the field to be able to cover."
Switching over to Andy Heck and the Chiefs' offensive line, they had a busy off-season. The team signed former Jacksonville Jaguars right tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year deal worth $80 million, including $60 million in guaranteed money as well as former Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith.
Head coach Andy Reid said Smith would get first-team snaps at left tackle while Taylor would be at right tackle.
"Really pleased to have both Donovan and Jawaan here. They're talented tackles, they're experienced, and in terms of how they've fit in and adapted, I think very well," Hecki said. "Donovan is a vocal guy, a physical guy, and we can, you know, draw a lot from his experience. Jawaan is very talented, does a nice job in pass protection and so I'm super pleased with those guys.
On the opposite side of the ball, defensive line coach Joe Cullen has had a lot on his plate dealing with suspensions and holdouts.
One player has been on the greener side of the grass, and that is the Chiefs' 2023 first round selection Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
"He's really progressing every day. He had 34 snaps the other night. He had some really good pressure, a couple of hits on the quarterback," Cullen said. "He's playing the run better, he's just going like that every day. I think we gotta get him ready to play, and I think he's really going to help us. I think he'll be in the rotation."
As for suspensions, Chiefs' defensive end Charles Omenihu has been suspended for six games for violating the league's personal conduct policy and camp holdout Chris Jones is still wanting to figure out his contract, but has missed all of training camp.
"We knew Charles was going to be suspended and you have to balance it. You have to give him the work here and he has to stay in great shape," Cullen said. "Chris, in my opinion, was as good, if not the best defensive player in the league last year and I do stay in touch with Chris ... Chris is working hard and you know we'll welcome him with open arms when he gets back here."
Last but not least, Chiefs' Assistant General Manager Mike Borgonzi took the podium. His main focus points were the state of the Chiefs' roster, competition in training camp, scouting players around the league and how the roster is evaluated and shaped every day heading into Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season.
"The free agents that we brought in just to get acclimated to our culture, the way we practice, pick up on our system, and now that these preseason games have kind of ramped up here, our pro department is going to be working hard here," Borgonzi said. "We're going to evaluate these next few weeks with our roster. We're going to evaluate the entire league and we're going to add value to where we feel we need to."
Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.
