ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — During one-on-one drills Sunday morning, Patrick Mahomes fired a pass to receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, going up against cornerback Jaylen Watson. The rep ended with Watson’s helmet on the ground, a football flung at Smith-Marsette and Mahomes playing peacemaker.
Welcome to Chiefs’ training camp, 2023 edition.
It’s not as if fights break out on a daily basis — although Travis Kelce did seemingly throw a punch at linebacker Jack Cochrane Saturday. But there’s a chippiness between offense and defense that seems ratcheted up a notch than in years past. Defensive backs get in the face of receivers, multiple defenders swipe at every ballcarrier trying to force the ball out and the trash-talking never ceases.
Head coach Andy Reid is fine with that — as long as tempers don’t flare out of control.
“We have new guys and everyone is competing,” Reid said after Sunday’s practice. “I’m okay with chippy, that’s all right. You got to have an edge and you got to maintain that, so it’s well and good when it’s practice one, and two you got to keep challenging each other as it goes through.”
After video of Kelce’s exchange with Cochrane went viral, the tight end took to social media explaining he needs to be a better leader in those situations. Reid said Kelce approached him after the scuffle.
“He’s one of the team leaders,” Reid said regarding Kelce’s social media post. “He felt it, and so he did, that’s all right. I’m just glad that at that old he’s still got some juice in him.”
Practice Observations
Sunday’s two-hour, 25-minute practice marked the longest practice of camp thus far, and temperatures in the 80s made it slightly more bearable for the players than the last few days when the heat index reached into the mid-to-upper-90s.
It was also a practice heavy on team periods with three 11-on-11 sessions. In addition to the usual stretch, individual drills and installation periods, the squad also conducted a 9-on-7 run period, a 7-on-7 session and special teams work for field goals and kickoff coverage. Several 1-on-1 intervals for pass blocking, pass rushing and receivers versus secondary.
Tight end Noah Gray continue his strong camp with another positive performance Sunday. In addition to winning both his pass-blocking assignments in 1-on-1 drills, he also ran a strong drag route for a reception against safety Bryan Cook. He immediately connected with Mahomes for a completion on the second play of 11-on-11 work.
With cornerback Nazeeh Johnson placed on injured reserve, the Chiefs secondary shuffled the rotation once again, and on Sunday Joshua Williams moved to the top of the rotation. He took over as the No. 3 corner, entering in substitution packages on the right side of the defense opposite L’Jarius Sneed with Trent McDuffie moving into the slot.
While there haven’t been many dramatic adjustments in the depth chart yet, Sunday did mark a greater rotation for much of the team’s rookie class. Receiver Rashee Rice has consistently received first-team reps for all of camp but safety Chamarri Connor and cornerback Nic Jones have also received a few looks. Offensive tackle Wanya Morris is mixing in more with the second-team offensive line, especially at left tackle, while defensive ends Felix Anudike-Uzomah and BJ Thompson as well as defensive tackle Keondre Coburn are getting more second-team reps. Thus far every member of this year’s draft class looks in serious competition for roster spots.
Running back Isiah Pacheco continues wearing a yellow non-contact jersey but has received more and more reps in both team periods and 7-on-7 work. With Clyde Edwards-Helaire out with an illness, Deneric Prince and Jerick McKinnon split the first-team work. Prince has struggled at times on inside zone runs but his outside work and hands in the passing game have been strong. He made another fantastic catch Sunday with a defender draped all over him.
One great way to identify players on the roster bubble at training camp practice is by identifying who lines up with starters on special teams units. The kickoff coverage team Sunday included Blake Bell, Matt Bushman, Jack Cochrane and Deon Bush, giving a strong indication that are on the positive side of the roster bubble right now.
Tightening Red Zone Defense
One of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s top priorities in 2023 is improving the team’s red-zone defense. The Chiefs ranked 28th in allowing a touchdown on 65% of red-zone possessions and No. 29 in total red-zone touchdowns allowed.
The No. 1 defense started strong during Sunday’s team period, holding Patrick Mahomes and company to just two scores in nine red-zone plays. After three-straight incompletions, Mahomes finished with an underhand shovel pass to running back Deneric Prince for a score and then connected with a wide-open tight end Matt Bushman on the next play.
When the first-team units face each other, both sides of the ball are working on their own installations, Reid explained.
Spags plays his coverages, works his coverages,” Reid said. We don’t game plan against that, that’s not what the offense does. They’re not game-planning against the offense from a defensive standpoint. Just trying to get the base stuff in.
But Reid says he sees improvement in Spagnuolo’s pass defense.
“One thing I’ll tell you about it is the windows when they’re playing zone are tighter really all over the field,” Reid said. “That’s because the guys have a better feel, so they’re able to tighten down those triangles there that they play.”
What’s Next?
Monday’s practice is scheduled to be a 10-10-10 practice, which allows the offense, defense and special teams to refine what they have worked on during the last three days in a game-planning scenario. This is a brisk, usually 90-minute practice with periods of 10 plays for the offense, 10 plays for the defense, and 10 minutes of special teams.
The Chiefs have an off day on Tuesday then are back to work on Wednesday for the first of four days of practice running through Saturday. Each practice starts at 9:15 a.m.
Tickets for most practices are free but must be reserved online.
