Kansas City Chiefs’ rookies and quarterback arrive to St. Joseph for training camp

By Calvin Silvers

We’ve finally hit the home stretch for the summer, as the Kansas City Chiefs began pouring into St. Joseph for this year’s training camp held on the Missouri Western campus. Coaches, quarterbacks, rookies, and a select few athletes made the trip up north, with the remaining team showing up toward the end of the week.

While not officially ready to practice in front of the fans just yet, the Chiefs are happy to be back in the community but more unlikely to be prepared for the infamous Andy Reid training camp. It’s another season and camp for Reid, and the objectives don’t change.

“The objective here is let’s get ourselves in shape, make sure we’re in football shape,” Reid said. “They’re all going to come back in shape, but let’s get ourselves in football shape both mentally and physically, so that we can perform at our best.”

The first three days are an opportunity for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to work with his new weapons in pads and with contact. With the onslaught of speed added this offseason, the Chiefs hope they can get back to their deep passing game.

“We added a lot of speed, obviously, you know that, but we also added just players in every single position group and I’m excited for the offense to go out there and attack,” Mahomes said. “Excited to get a couple of days with them and get some early work in with them and timing.”

One of the main storylines for the Chiefs’ minicamp was the amount of time first-round wide receiver Xavier Worthy missed due to a hamstring injury. However, entering training camp, coach Reid said Worthy is finishing his recovery, and we can expect to see him out on the field.

As for Mahomes, he doesn’t think Worthy will have it quite as easy.

“There’s no easing, he’s going to be ready to go, Mahomes said. “We’ve got a lot of competition on this offense, and Xavier, I mean, he got a lot of mental work in these last few weeks, but it’s time to go now.”

Training camp also helps in the behind-the-scenes camaraderie, as players can discuss what went down in practice during lunch or hanging out in the dorms.

In the words of coach Reid, this type of trip makes you stronger, which has translated to winning on the field.

“Build this brotherhood, so when we go through these tough days at camp and coach Reid puts us to the test, we can come together and really go out there and find ways to win,” Mahomes said.

With the Chief’s contract in the air on returning to Missouri Western for training camp in the future, Reid made it known that this is a special time for not only him but the entire Chiefs’ organization.

“We love the setup here with the people here… (they) treat us great at Missouri Western State University and its beautiful facilities,” Reid said. “It’s great to be able to get away from the city.”