Kansas City Chiefs Day 13 Training Camp Takeaways: Travis Kelce speaks, Jalen Royals’ best practice, Peter Woods’ toughness on display
The Kansas City Chiefs completed Day 13 of training camp practice. They have one more practice session before preseason Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Kansas City Chiefs held training camp practice at Missouri Western State University on Wednesday. Gates opened slightly late for fans as storms cleared the area, but practice was held outdoors. Only one more practice session to go before preseason Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, Aug. 15.
DT Omarr Norman-Lott (knee), RG Trey Smith (hip), LB Drue Tranquill (back), and CB L’Jarius Sneed (knee) remained absent from practice on Tuesday. They were joined by WR Jimmy Holiday, who left practice early on Tuesday with an unknown injury. CB Mansoor Delane (shoulder) is still wearing the yellow non-contact jersey, but we now know when that could come off. At this juncture, I wouldn’t expect any of the above players to participate in the preseason game on Saturday.
TE Jared Wiley left practice in the front of the cart after the team’s first 11-on-11 period of the day. The team told reporters after practice that he suffered a strained hamstring.
What else did we learn on Day 13 of training camp practice?
Travis Kelce speaks for first time since wedding
For the first time since his wedding to Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce spoke with media members. He fielded a single question about his offseason before keeping things moving to football.
“It was a fun offseason, man,” Kelce said. “Wedding was the best night of my life, and I appreciate everybody who came out and celebrated and, you know, had fun with us. And yeah, that’s about all I really got from that night. It was a crazy night. It was it was full of a lot of celebration, but it’s football, baby.”
In year 14, how does Kelce still come out to St. Joe and perform at a high level? It’s easy when you consider training camp as your sanctuary, and when you’re doing something you love.
“I still got a lot of love for this game,” Kelce said. “You know, I still think I can go out and play at a high level, and I want to go out there and prove to myself that I could play at a better level than I did last year. I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me is making sure that I’m accountable for the guys in this room and every single play that I’m out there.”
Kelce had a solid day of practice. KSHB-TV producer extraordinaire Nick Jacobs described one of his best plays. With the team working on screen passes during practice, Kelce caught an underhand pass from Patrick Mahomes on a tight end screen. He fought through blockers all the way to the end zone for six points.
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker depth takes another hit
Nick Bolton started off practice in a strange way. During the team’s install period, he was spotted getting into the front of a cart by The Fan 96.5’s Alex Gold. Bolton was not a participant at the start of 11-on-11 drills. After practice, the team reported that Bolton’s absence was due to an illness.
The Chiefs are already down Drue Tranquill, who is dealing with a back injury. This puts them down their two best linebackers. With Bolton and Tranquill out of the first-team 11-on-11, Jeff Bassa, Jack Cochrane, and Cooper McDonald started for Kansas City. The team is now lacking for linebacker depth with Cole Christiansen and Kam Arnold as the lone reserves.
Jalen Royals’ best practice yet
By my estimation, second-year WR Jalen Royals had his best day of practice to this point in training camp. In the early 11-on-11 period, Mahomes targeted Royals on a tight-window throw across the middle of the field for a big gain.
Royals was regularly involved in the game plan throughout practice during team drills. It almost seemed as if they were making a concerted effort to target him. In 7-on-7, he won this great rep isolated in coverage, making a good catch on the outside.
It just feels like Royals is starting to put some things together and at the exact right time. They’ll need him to contribute with Rashee Rice still working his way back from offseason knee debridement surgery.
Peter Woods shows off toughness during practice
A screen pass to RB Kenneth Walker seemed to go wrong when rookie DT Peter Woods and second-year LB Jeffrey Bassa got tangled up. The collision caused Woods to go down immediately, grasping at the back of his left leg. You can see it here in this clip captured by podcaster Farzin Vousoughian.
According to KC Star columnist Sam McDowell, DT Marcus Harris tried to sub in for Woods after this play. However, Woods waved him off and insisted on staying in and continuing. Later in practice, he had a play in 11-on-11 where he got around Kingsley Suamataia and Josh Simmons to get his hands up and bat down a pass.
The team reported after practice that Woods has an ankle injury.
New Chiefs DE Emmanuel Ogbah at practice
While the newest member of the Chiefs was out at practice on Wednesday, he was not in pads or participating. Emmanuel Ogbah was an observer at practice on the sidelines. He was spotted by Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick speaking with assistant D-Line coach Terry Bradden ahead of practice.
Expect that Ogbah’s deal will become official later today, with a corresponding roster move to follow.
