KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Five years ago, Andy Reid couldn’t have imagined he would embrace meeting with his players virtually as he did Monday to launch the team’s offseason program.
“No, I wouldn’t have seen that before the whole COVID year showed up,” Reid said during his offseason opening press conference Monday – on Zoom, naturally. The players and coaches use another platform familiar to many corporate employees, Microsoft Teams, to coordinate the team sessions, offense and defense meetings, and position group gatherings, among others.
“It’s slowed down to where they get to see all the videos, the cut-ups, the work that the coaches have put in to do these evaluations and to teach and to learn from the players’ standpoint,” Reid said. “It’s also good communication, so they can share ideas, players and coaches. They can ask questions, feel free about that. There’s no rush to do so. And at the same time, they get their lifting in and running in that they need to build that base to get them through the season.”
On Monday, cornerback Trent McDuffie grabbed his notebook and sat down to take part in his third virtual offseason program – rookies don’t arrive until phase two, when sessions are in person. McDuffie has learned to use this period to get back into his playbook.
“I feel like these two weeks is such a pivotal time for not only new players, but like for me, I’ve been a part of this defense,” McDuffie said. “You know, I know what (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) likes to do, but every time you open up the playbook, every time we have meetings like this, you always learn a few little nuggets that I’m like, ‘Oh, dang, I forgot about that,’ or, ‘Oh, that’s something new that I didn’t know these past two years.’
The NFL offseason is divided into three phases. The first phase, which opens this week for most teams – clubs with new head coaches were allowed to start two weeks ago – is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehab only.
On May 5, the Chiefs enter phase two, which is a three-week period where players can take part in individual and group instruction and drills. Teams can conduct “perfect play drills” with only the offense or defense on the field, but not both. This is when the team typically resumes in-person attendance.
Phase three is the most well-known period, often referred to as OTAs (organized team practice activity), which is 10 practices similar to what fans see at training camp. No live contact is allowed, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 football is permitted. This phase also includes the conclusion of the offseason program, the mandatory minicamp. The Chiefs will conduct their mandatory minicamp June 17-19.
Other than the mandatory minicamp, the rest of the offseason program is voluntary. Many players, however, receive workout bonuses for taking part in all three phases. Most contracts award the workout bonus if players participate in 90% of offseason workouts.
The Chiefs appear to be the only NFL team that conducts the first phase of the offseason virtually. A necessity initially driven by the pandemic in 2020, Reid fully embraced the virtual meeting space in 2021. His team was coming off back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, and the head coach both liked the way it worked and felt his team needed more rest and recuperation before starting Phase II of the offseason.
McDuffie only knows a virtual first phase of the offseason, having arrived in Kansas City as a rookie in 2002. But he appreciates the freedom and rest Reid provides his team in April.
“Personally, I love it,” McDuffie said. “I’ve been to the Super Bowl the past three years, so I don’t know what a shorter offseason really is, but just giving us an extra one or two weeks, honestly, is so helpful just mentally for me. I always come back to California and just be around my family, try to get away from all the hoopla, the season, and football, and really just come back to real life and just realize there’s more than football out here.”
The virtual offseason has proven the perfect way for McDuffie to transition back to work.
“So it’s really just a learning time for me and a way for me to kind of re-lock in and understand this football season again, which I love,” he said.
It’s a rejuvenating time for Reid as well.
“Yeah, so I’m excited to get going again,” Reid said. “It’s been fun to go back in and dig in on the season and either come up with new things or correct the things that we still like and are bringing back.”
That’s one of many reasons why the virtual offseason isn’t going anywhere for now in Kansas City
“I think it’s one of the positives that came out of (COVID), probably for a lot of professions,” Reid said. “I mean, here we’re doing this right now virtually, and that didn’t happen before either, but you can use it as a teaching tool, and that’s something that we, the players, have perfected – we perfected and feel comfortable doing.”
