Kansas City Chiefs Day 16 Training Camp Takeaways: Injury bug officially hits St. Joe, Rashee Rice starting to look like himself
The injury bug has officially hit Kansas City Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph, with multiple O-Line injuries and two new players injured during practice on Tuesday.
The Kansas City Chiefs continued training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri on Tuesday.
The injury list is growing for the Chiefs, especially on the offensive line. OL Chu Godrick (ankle), LT Josh Simmons (back), RG Trey Smith (hip), OT Matt Waletzko (knee), LB Jack Cochrane (knee), DL Omarr Norman-Lott (knee), WR Jeff Weimer (hamstring), and WR Jimmy Holiday (quad) all missed practice.
LB Drue Tranquill (back), S Chamarri Conner (knee), and CB L’Jarius Sneed (knee) were each back at practice on Tuesday. Sneed remains on a maintenance program, which I’d expect to persist into the 2026 NFL season. Think non-participant on Wednesday, limited on Thursday, and full participant on Friday.
What else did we learn from Day 16 of practice?
The injury bug has officially hit Kansas City Chiefs training camp
No team can avoid the injury bug during training camp and the preseason. It’s coming on especially strong for the Chiefs as camp in St. Joe wraps up. The team had a gang of injuries in practice on Monday. That persisted on Tuesday, as well.
During practice, second-year WR Tyquan Thornton left in the front of the cart. It was unclear what happened to him then. After practice, Chiefs PR told reporters that he suffered a hamstring injury.
Second-year DE Ashton Gillotte got hurt while tackling TE Jared Wiley. KSHB-TV’s Matt Foster captured video of him holding the back of his right foot as he walked gingerly to the medical tent. Gillotte already missed time at camp with a hamstring injury in his right leg. Gillotte is considered the team’s starter opposite Karlaftis, so another injury here would be bad news.
O-Line injuries lead to a scary combination of starters
The Chiefs are now down two starters on the offensive line in Trey Smith (hip) and Josh Simmons (back). They had so many O-Line injuries and absences on Monday that Simmons had to play third-string tackle because they didn’t have enough bodies. It seems that the amount of work he got didn’t do him any favors. Matt Waletzko (knee) and Chu Godrick (ankle) were also out of practice on Tuesday.
The starting O-Line was comprised of a mishmash of players. Jaylon Moore worked at left tackle, Mike Caliendo and Hunter Nourzad rotated in at right guard, and Kahlil Benson played right tackle. Creed Humphrey remained at center, and Kingsley Suamataia remained at left guard.
It’s far from an ideal scenario to have this combination of players on the O-Line with Patrick Mahomes coming back from a knee injury. The depth at guard looks bleak. The depth at tackle is already being tested, too.
Rashee Rice is finally starting to look like himself
It has taken Rice a bit of time to get his football legs back after missing OTAs and mandatory minicamp. He’s also still working his way back from offseason knee surgery. Rice has participated fully at practice for several consecutive days now, and he’s just finally starting to look like himself.
He connected with Patrick Mahomes for a touchdown during practice on Tuesday.
Every clip I’ve seen from him recently tells me he’s trusting the knee more. His routes aren’t looking as rigid. He’s rebuilding that chemistry with Mahomes. Again, it just feels like he’s moving in the right direction as the season rapidly approaches.
Remember, Rice didn’t play in preseason Week 1. Will they play him in preseason Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? I think that could be the next checkpoint for him in his injury ramp-up.
Patrick Mahomes is constantly looking for Cyrus Allen in team drills
Since the rookie receiver, Allen, has returned from his shin injury, he’s been constantly involved with the first-team offense. What I’ve noticed and have continued to notice is that Patrick Mahomes is constantly looking his way during his progressions. Sometimes, he’s even hanging on Allen because he has such confidence that the rookie will come open.
No matter what, it feels like the connection between Mahomes and Allen is getting better by the day. On Tuesday, he took some of those seam repetitions that have typically been reserved for Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton.
It’ll only be a matter of time before defensive coordinators will have to start game-planning for No. 13.
