KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the Chiefs defense gathered for the start of offseason workouts earlier this month, coordinator Steve Spagnuolo want to deliver a sharp message.
“It’s a whole new year,” Spagnuolo said. “There are no guarantees that we will be the same. No guarantees.”
Spagnuolo’s warning comes from experience. His New York Giants defense in 2016 finished No. 2 in the NFL in scoring allowing just 17.8 points per game. The team finished 11-5 under first-year head coach Ben McAdoo, and Spaguolo was convinced more success loomed ahead in 2017 with virtually his entire defense returning. Instead, everything fell apart. The Giants finished 27th in the NFL while allowing 24.3 points per game.
“I was just sharing with them that I had been through experience of being way up there,” Spagnuolo said. “And then the very following next year with a lot of the same guys, we did not play nearly as well. And I don’t want to see that happen. I’d like to guard against that.”
Last year, Spagnuolo’s defense ranked No. 2 in the league in scoring allowing just 17.3 points per game. They return all but one starter — cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. But Spagnuolo refuses to let history repeat itself. It’s a message that resonated with linebacker Nick Bolton, who still sees mistakes his team can clean up from last season.
“We’ve got a good start, a good nucleus of guys coming back and we’re just going in that department,” Bolton said. “Spags has a lot of trust in us to push ourselves. … We understand that’s the challenge ahead of us, not regressing, trying to get better every single day.”
Cornerback Trent McDuffie sees this year’s defense starting in a different position than where the defense was this time last year.
“There’s this one play (in practice) where we kind of messed it up, and then me and (Justin) Reid just played off each other,” McDuffie explained. “I was like, ‘Man it feels good.’ Three years into this everybody knows what they’re doing, you ain’t got to be out there worrying about who he’s doing what. We can just play fast. I feel like going into this new season, I think that’s huge where we’re starting off at.”
How does Spagnuolo plan on keeping his defense from resting on its laurels?
“We got to start working at things the way we did a year ago when we were trying to do that,” Spagnuolo said. “I still think we can go higher. I hope we would reach to be higher, but that was kind of the point I made.
Attendance Report
A total of 11 players on the team’s 91-player roster did not participate in Thursday’s practice, including first-round wide receiver Xavier Worthy who remains on the sidelines after tweaking his hamstring last week.
Linebacker Leo Chenal also did not participate but did attend practice. Cornerback Jaylen Watson was absent from the workout. The Chiefs are not required to issue an injury report and did not provide an update regarding either player.
Four defensive linemen did not practice Thursday, including Chris Jones, who did workout with the club earlier in the week. Defensive end Charles Omenihu (ACL) and tackle Derrick Nnadi (tricep) watched practice after completing rehab work. Tackle Isaiah Buggs was absent while turning himself into Tuscaloose County authorities in Alabama on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.
On the offensive side of the ball, wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Kadarius Toney, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and left guard Joe Thuney (pectoral) were not at practice Thursday.
Notes & Observations
Mostly sunny skies with temperatures rising into the upper 70s greeted the Chiefs on the practice field at 11:20 a.m. Thursday for a roughly one-hour, 40-minute practice that followed a familiar script. After conditioning, position drills, group install, and a special teams period, the club wrapped up this week’s three days of practice with a team blitz session, 7-on-7, and red-zone work.
The Chiefs split their special teams period between punt team and kickoff coverage. Once again, with the new rules on kickoff coverage, that period once again delivered as a highlight of the day.
While Harrison Butker started as the kickoff specialist, the Chiefs also rotated in both safety Justin Reid and running back Louis Rees-Zammit as alternatives. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub expects kickers to be involved in more tackles with the new rules, which means having an extra defender on the field makes sense. Toub also places an emphasis on getting the kickoff on the ground in the landing zone, which means long kickoffs with extended hang time won’t matter much.
Rees-Zammit has also been a starter at kick returner, and he definitely fits the mold that Toub envisions for his pair of returners on the field.
“They’re going to be more like a running back-style type guy because the other returner – the guy that doesn’t field the ball — has got to be a good blocker,” Toub explained. “They have to be not only a good returner, solid, be able to take a hit and bounce back from a lot of tackles because there’s going to be a lot of tackles, but they have to be a really good blocker because there’s going to be guys coming free, there’s just too many guys down the field at the point of attack.”
As soon as the offense put 11 players in the huddle for the first time a change was evident. Chukwuebuka Godrick stepped into the left tackle role with the first team while Wanya Morris moved to left guard with Thuney out. Offensive line coach Andy Heck explained the change after practice.
“Chu is an exciting developmental guy, and he’s been doing very well this spring, so we wanted to give him a look out there,” Heck said. “That’ll be a work in progress, we’re going to give a lot of guys some looks there, Kingsley (Suamataia) certainly, Ethan Driskell one of our young guys. I feel good about the tackle depth that we have here to create some good competition.”
Even as the Chiefs offense worked on installing today’s plays against air, Worthy sidled up next to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and spent most of practice by his side. With Worthy nursing his tweaked hamstring, Thurday’s practice offered an opportunity for Worth to take mental reps alongside his coach and expand his understanding of the offense.
“I think for him it’s really valuable to be able to tell me while we are standing there in practice where he’s supposed to go and where he’s supposed to be more so than the physical routes,” Nagy said. “It’s been really good for him, he’s been great.”
Patrick Mahomes started practice strong completing eight of his first 10 throws during team periods, the two incompletions coming on a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage and a missed connection on a deep post route to Skyy Moore.
Second-year receiver Nikko Remigio had three receptions during those 10 plays. The 2023 undrafted free agent from California and Fresno State spent last season on injured reserve after dislocating his shoulder during training camp. With Brown, Worthy and Toney out Thursday, Remigio took the new opportunities with the ones to make his case.
The 24-year-old also delivered one of the day’s offensive highlights when he connected with Mahomes on a touchdown during the 7-on-7 period on a deep post. It’s plays like that, along with an impact on special teams, that will help Remigio’s bid for the roster, said Nagy, who added he’s proud of him for bouncing back from last season’s disappointment.
“Nikko is a prime example of an undrafted free agent that comes in, is an absolute true professional every day in the meeting room, every day at practice,” Nagy said. “It’s the same speed. It’s the same mentality. You root for guys like that.”
Tensions rose during the 7-on-7 period as the offense moved closer to the red zone, and the trash-talking got heated. Running back Isiah Pacheco was the ring leader on the offense side, needling the defense after Mahomes found Rashee Rice for a touchdown.
While the offense won much of the day, the defense had its moments. Linebacker Drue Tranquill busted up a pass play on a blitz resulting in an incompletion from Mahomes, and rookie safety Jaden Hicks also had a nice pass breakup near the end of practice. Cornerback Trent McDuffie was in position to break up a pass to Travis Kelce but pulled up short — it’s a non-contact practice after all.
Safety Trey Dean interception a Carson Wentz pass intended for Montrell Washington near the goal line. Dean might have gotten away with a push, but the interception is reflective of the physical, high-speed play Dean has exhibited since rookie minicamp. Dean signed in 2023 with the New York Jets as an undrafted rookie free agent from Florida. He spent last season on the Jets practice squad and signed with the Chiefs practice squad in January after his New York contract expired.
Position Battle: Punter
When the Chiefs signed free agent “Punt God” Matt Araiza, many observers concluded the club had found its replacement for Tommy Townsend. But Ryan Rehkow says not so fast.
It’s been clear through the first two weeks of OTAs that the punter competition is wide open, and Toub confirmed that speculation Thursday.
“I’m going to tell you both these guys are really good, both,” Toub said. “Matt is a lefty and Ryan is a righty, and they’re both excellent and they’re both NFL punters. I’m going to tell you it’s a real close battle right now, we kick them as much as we can without wearing out their legs.”
Rehkow (pronounced Ree-co) averaged 47.4 yards per punt during four seasons as BYU’s punter, including 48.4 yards per kick last year. He hit a career-best 83-yard punt against Arizona State as a sophomore in 2021. Rehkow earned first-team All-Big 12 honors last year.
Araiza (pronounced Ah-RIZE-ah) was a unanimous All-American in 2021 en route to winning the Ray Guy Awards as the top college punter in the nation. He averaged 51.1 yards per punt in parts of two seasons as San Diego State’s punter. However, he doesn’t have much experience holding for kicks as he also served as the placekicker for the Aztecs for three seasons, connecting on 73.5% of his field goal tries and converting 96-of-97 extra point attempts.
Holding for kicker Harrison Butker may prove the ultimate deciding factor in this position battle.
“The holds are important,” Toub said. “Butker is going to be involved. I’m going to talk to him, who he likes when it comes time.”
Toub is unsure how long the battle will last. A decision could be before the Chiefs play their first preseason game or they may wait to see how one or both players perform in a game. Rehkow is an undrafted rookie free agent, while Araiza booted his only NFL punt 82 yards in a preseason game in 2022 after being a sixth-round selection by the Buffalo Bills.
“It’s a battle,” Toub said. “Both of them give you a lot, both of them have things that they do well.”
What’s Next?
Members of the Super Bowl LVIII championship squad will travel to Washington, D.C., Friday morning for their visit to The White House that afternoon. Most of the team is expected to make the trip along with former players such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Tommy Townsend.
After the weekend off, the Chiefs return for the third and final week of organized team practice activities with practices June 3-6. The sessions are closed to the public. The team’s mandatory minicamp will take place June 11-13.
