Fans attending Kansas City Chiefs training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri on Thursday might’ve noticed something different about practice.

You might have seen lots of wide-open receivers, or what seems like a lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball. That’s not exactly an indictment on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, it’s all by design. That’s because the team held its first 10-10-10 practice of training camp on Thursday.

What is a 10-10-10 practice session?

After three consecutive days of padded practices, the NFL requires teams to hold a padless practice. That opened the opportunity for the Chiefs to hold what is commonly referred to as a 10-10-10 practice in the Andy Reid coaching tree. It’s Reid’s signature practice style, refined throughout his coaching career.

A 10-10-10 practice at its core is a walkthrough. It’s a padless practice with players wearing spiders, helmets, and shorts. It’s designed to be a lighter practice in terms of intensity, but it moves at a quick pace. That keeps players on their toes and sharp while giving their bodies a physical rest after prior days of padded practice sessions.

The “10-10-10” specifically refers to the team cycling through 10 offensive plays, 10 defensive plays, and 10 minutes of special teams work. They typically involve some element of play/concept installation during 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 team drills.

The 10 plays in each phase are all designed to achieve a certain goal. During the 10 offensive plays, the offense will be set up for success. The defense will act as a scout team. The offense will practice a specific set of route combinations, reads, runs, formations, and throws, while the defense works at half speed.

Conversely, during the 10 defensive plays, the defense will be set up to run those 10 plays successfully. Sometimes that means a quarterback will intentionally throw into a certain type of coverage or hold on the ball an extra beat for the blitz to get home. The offense will often look to show the defense a specific type of formation, look, or pre-snap motion. 

What should Kansas City Chiefs fans look for during a 10-10-10 practice?

Every clip you see from camp during a 10-10-10 practice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Individual flair and performance still come into play. However, a big reception or a turnover is often scripted to an extent. The deep passing element is also important to 10-10-10 practice. But when it’s time for the offense’s 10 plays, they might as well be throwing against air.

“It’s important we practice those,” Reid said in August of 2022. “You call them in practice when you’re going against a defense, but you might not always get to the deep one; it might be covered. So these practices here, these 10-10-10’s where you have opportunities to take shots downfield, you take them, and you get yourself on the same page as the receivers.”

So, when you see a successful route or deep passing play, you can tell yourself: “That’s how it’s drawn up.”

10-10-10 practices often serve as a way for the coaching staff to evaluate the mental aspects of practice. Are newcomers able to execute a plan and follow the instructions closely? These practices also mimic what players will go through for game preparation during a normal NFL practice week. It’s why the team breaks them out when they get closer to preseason Week 1.