Chiefs return to practice on Sunday, approaching first preseason game
By Jacob Meikel
The Kansas City Chiefs returned to practice in St. Joseph on Sunday for a lighter work load before a ramp up as the week goes on.
The reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champions will be in for a treat this week in Jacksonville for its first preseason action of 2024. Not only is it the first bit of real action for the team since their Super Bowl 58 win in Las Vegas, it’s also the first time it’ll be exposed to the new kickoff rules set forth by the NFL for the 2024 season.
Fans got the first taste of the new format, adopted by the league earlier this year, during the annual Hall of Fame Game between the Bears and Texans last Thursday. As the league aims to generate more returns to the games, the new format showed to be on the right track to doing just that. Seven returns happened in the Hall of Fame Game. Though none were taken to the end zone, it is still in its early stages. Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub commented on the format on Sunday after seeing for the first time, feeling as though teams may be withholding their best efforts for when the games truly count.
“I couldn’t wait to see. I thought there might have been a couple bigger returns. They kept it kind of vanilla, especially in this first game,” Toub said.
On special teams, Toub has gotten the pleasure of getting used to a new punter on the team. Matt Araiza enters the scene with the departure of 2022 All-Pro punter Tommy Townsend, who signed with the Houston Texans in the offseason. It was a turbulent start for Araiza to begin his NFL career. The All-American punter out of San Diego State was accused of rape in an incident that allegedly took place in 2021. Originally drafted by the Bills in 2022, Araiza would be let go by Buffalo and would only take to the field for one preseason game in his career up to this point. Araiza was eventually dropped from the lawsuit in December of 2023, allowing him to sign with any team and chose the Kansas City Chiefs. Replacing a punter of Townsend’s caliber isn’t easy, but Toub is optimistic.
Toub had said earlier in training camp that the team had signed two punters in Araiza and Ryan Rehkow, but decided to stick with one punter in Araiza heading into training camp.
“I consider [Araiza] a rookie because he only kicked one game in preseason, then he was done,” Toub said. “As a rookie, he’s really above the line. I think he’s way ahead right now. He’s really hitting some good punts.
The Chiefs will have training camp practices Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, take the next four days off to prepare for their first preseason game and won’t return to St. Joseph until the following Monday, Aug. 12.
