KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First-round draft pick Josh Simmons wasn’t sure how much he would participate in his first practice during the Chiefs’ rookie minicamp opening Saturday. It wasn’t a lot but it was more than some might have expected for a player just more than six months removed from surgery for a torn patellar tendon.
“I’ll be getting my toes wet, but right now, everything’s on rehab,” Simmons said about an hour before taking the field for his first NFL practice. “Whatever the trainers will have me doing is kind of what I’ll be doing.”
Simmons took part in the stretch period, played the part of a defensive lineman for teammates working on their setup and punch, and lined up as a left tackle during group activities. He didn’t participate in team activities, but it was a small step forward for a player with modest expectations for offseason workouts. How much he will participate in this minicamp and during organized team practice activities (OTAs) over the next month remains an open topic with the club’s athletic training staff.
“Can’t really say, it’s one of the conversations I’ve had with the trainers, but it’ll probably be — conversations will be had, probably,” Simmons said.
Mental reps and digging into the playbook will be on the agenda of Simmons when he’s not performing rehab. Playing for Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who now holds that same position with the Las Vegas Raiders, helped prepare him for what he saw in Andy Reid’s playbook.
“(Kelly’s offense is) very NFL, pro style, so coming here and jumping into something like this wasn’t as hard as it was for me, coming from San Diego State to Ohio State, so I’m definitely glad I was in Chip Kelly’s offense.”
Notes & Observations
The rookies took part in a walkthrough Saturday morning as preparation for their first NFL practice, and Simmons was one of five rookies who met with reporters in the media workroom for press conferences starting at 12:15. He was joined by defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott, defensive end Ashton Gillotte, cornerback Nohl Williams and wide receiver Jalen Royals.
The full squad took to the field for practice starting at 1:20, which was run much like a typical training camp practice. The stretch and conditioning session was followed by a special teams punt period. USC punter Eddie Czaplicki, signed to provide competition for second-year punter Matt Araiza, was impressive kicking from the end zone with a steady breeze, consistently sending punts across the 50-yard line and beyond. Czaplicki also spent a considerable amount of time practicing holding with Missouri long snapper Trey Flint and Kansas State kicker Chris Tennant under the watchful eye of special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
Players broke into position drills about 30 minutes into practice. Former Chiefs receiver Gehrig Dieter is again spending time as a coach at the rookie minicamp, working with the young pass catchers in camp.
After a roughly 15-minute installation period where the offense and defense worked separately against air, the first team period began at 2:25 p.m. While rookie minicamp practices are often characterized by botched snaps, false starts, play call uncertainty and more errors of inexperience, Saturday’s workout was surprisingly smooth. Some credit must go to quarterback Chris Oladokun, a 27-year-old entering his fourth season with the Chiefs. Oladokun ran the offense efficiently and established the tone for the rookie quarterbacks in camp.
It was no surprise that Oladokun’s first pass targeted Royals on a fade down the left sideline by cornerback Melvin Smith Jr., an undrafted free agent signed out of Southern Arkansas. The first five plays for the offense were sloppy before Central Missouri quarterback Zach Zebrowski completed his first pass to Graham Walker — an intriguing connection between the son of Kansas offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski and Walker, the half-brother of Patrick Mahomes.
The cornerback Smith struck again later in the team period when a high throw from Oladokun tipped off the hands of Royals and was grabbed by Smith for an interception.
Zebrowski had a solid day, especially when targeting Key’Shawn Smith, a tryout player from SMU who started his career at Miami. The pair had several nice plays, particularly a well-timed throw down the right sideline caught by Smith and later a laser throw by Zebrowski.
After a 10-minute position drills session, a 7-on-7 period started at 2:58 p.m. with Oladokun connecting with Brashard Smith out of the backfield. The rookie minicamp is largely a passing camp, so it’s mostly receivers and tight ends getting the lion’s share of the work but Smith and Elijah Young, who finished his college career at Western Kentucky after transferring from Missouri, both impressed with their hands.
Corey Flagg Jr., a first-year linebacker from Missouri, made a nice play to breakup a pass from Oladokun to tryout receiver Jimmy Holiday from Lousiana Tech.
Most of the best plays of the day came during the final team pass period that began at 3:13. One the first play of this session, Oladokun found Elijhah Badger, an undrafted free agent signed out of Florida. Badger also had a strong day with a couple of catches in the team period. He was also denied one reception on a pass broken up by Williams, a third-round draft pick.
Another tryout player, Jared Casey from Kansas, delivered perhaps the best catch of the day, a left-handed, one-handed grab down the left sideline on a throw from Southest Missouri State quarterback Paxton DeLaurent. Casey celebrated the catch jubilantly with some help from his yellow rookies.
The horn wrapping up practice blared at 3:28 p.m., with the players concluding a 2-hour, 8-minute practice with a cool-down period.
Players of the Day: It was hard not to notice the pass catchers with Badger and Key’Shawn Smith among those having big days. Jaaron Hayek, who parlayed a minicamp invite into a roster spot for training camp last May, had another nice performance Saturday. Fresno State receiver Mac Dalena made nice catch versus air when he made a great adjustment on a deep ball caught in the wind and turned around to make a hard catch look easy. Defensively, Nohl Williams and Melvin Smith were impressive on day one.
Who’s Who?
There are 77 players taking part in this weekend’s rookie minicamp at the Chiefs’ training complex, including seven draft picks, 16 signed college free agents, 50 rookie tryout attendees, two veteran tryout candidates, and two current roster players. The rundown:
Current roster: QB Chris Oladokun and OT Chukwuebuka Godrick
Draft picks: OT Josh Simmons, DT Omarr Norman-Lott, DE Ashton Gillotte, CB Nohl Williams, WR Jalen Royals, LB Jeff Bassa and RB Brashard Smith
Signed college free agents: RB Elijah Young (Western Kentucky), WR ElijahBadger (Florida), WR MacDalena (Fresno State), WR Justin Lockhart (San Jose State), TE Jake Briningstool (Clemson), TE Tre Watson (Texas A&M), OG Dalton Cooper (Oklahoma State) OT Esa pole (Washington State), DT Coziah Izzard, LB Brandon George (Pittsburgh), CB Jacobe Covington (USC), CB Melvin Smith Jr. (Southern Arkansas), DB Kevin Knowles (Florida State), S Will Brooks (Tennessee), S Glendon Miller (Maryland) and P Eddie Czaplicki (USC)
Veteran tryouts: WR Jaaron Hayek and RB Snoop Conner
Rookie tryouts:
Quarterbacks: Paxton DeLaurent (Southeast Missouri State), Spencer Petras (Utah State) and Zach Zebrowski (Central Missouri)
Running backs: Jarod Epperson (Augustana-South Dakota), Darius Hale (Central Arkansas) and Qualan Jones (Stephen F. Austin)
Tight ends: Jared Casey (Kansas), Jake Roberts (Oklahoma) and Graham Walker (Rice)
Wide Receivers: Dante Cephas (Kansas State), Christian Dremel (Rutgers), Jimmy Holiday (Louisiana Tech), Mark Mahoney (Brown), Monterren Parks (Utah), Key’Shawn Smith (SMU), Dante Wright (Temple) and Damien Alford (Utah)
Offensive line: Gabe Clark (Central Missouri), Jason Collier (Pittsburgh), DeVonte Gordon (Wake Forrest), Brayden Keim (BYU), Vershon Lee (South Carolina), Joe Lombard (South Dakota), Micah Mazzccua (Nebraska), Blaise Sparks (Delaware) and Jake Wiley (Houston)
Defensive line: Chace Davis (Bowling Green), Nusi Malani (Washington State), Nate Matlack (Pittsburgh), RJ Oben (Notre Dame), Jireh Ojata (Purdue), Marley Cook (Miami, Fla.), Dai’Mont Gourdine (Connecticut), Kevin Hester Jr. (North Carolina), Gavin Meyer (USC), Nate Muamba (Akron) and Malcolm Ray (Rutgers)
Linebackers: Cameron Bergeron (Duke), Morice Blackwell Jr. (Texas A&M), Corey Flagg Jr. (Missouri), Cooper McDonald (TCU), Austin Moore (Kansas State), Michael Moore (Alabama-Birmingham), Greg Penn (LSU), Tristan Sinclair (Stanford) and Ahmad Walker (SMU)
Defensive backs: Davonte Brown (Florida State), Sean Fresch (Rice), Devin Hembry (North Dakota), RJ Jones III (Howard), Cameron Watts (New Mexico), Ajani Carter (Houston), Joseph Charleston (Missouri), Marvin Grant (Kansas), Quinten Johnson (Michigan), Noa Pola-Gates (New Mexico), Kenyatta Watson (Georgia State) and Major Williams (Carson-Newman)
Specialists: K Trey Flint (Missouri) and LS Chris Tennant (Kansas State)
What’s Next?
The rookies are back for day two Sunday with another afternoon practice. The rookie minicamp is closed to the public. Scheduled to appear on the podium for press conferences Sunday are head coach Andy Reid, linebacker Jeff Bassa, tight ends Jake Briningstool and Jared Casey, and wide receiver Elijah Badger.
Minicamp finishes on Monday with a third practice. That session will not be open to the media.
