Chiefs Training Camp Notebook Day 3: Two Rookies Are Stealing The Show

It was another nice, cool day in St. Joe for Kansas City Chiefs training camp on Friday. It was another ramp-up practice before the pads come on Monday. The session lasted roughly two hours.

Here’s everything to know from Arrowhead Pride’s in-person observations of practice:

Attendance report

Check out our coverage of the information head coach Andy Reid shared with local media after practice on Friday. It includes clarification on the only injury of Friday’s practice: defensive end Ashton Gillotte straining his hamstring.

Kahlil Benson starts for a second consecutive day

To open training camp, veteran offensive tackle Jaylon Moore manned the starting right tackle position. On Thursday and Friday, rookie Kahlil Benson was the starter on the right side while Moore went from playing left tackle with the second-team unit on Thursday to playing the right side more on Friday.

Andy Reid shared his thoughts on Benson’s performance in camp so far.

“He and Moore kind of rotated through that, but he’s done a nice job,” Reid said of Benson. “He’s learning, but very strong, powerful, good feet, good athletic ability, and is working the consistency part scheme-wise. Physically, he’s got all the tools there, so he’ll just keep working at it, and we’ll see where it goes.”

With full pads set to come on Monday, Reid is being cautious in talking up the undrafted, rookie-minicamp tryout signing from Indiana.

“He’s got talent,” Reid reiterated. “We’re early… I want to see how he does as we go. Can you pound through those two-and-a-half-hour practices, in the heat, with pads on? And so on… then you got the preseason games, how do you handle that? It’s a long road… but to this point, my hat goes off to him; he’s doing a good job.”

Cyrus Allen refuses to go quietly into the Chiefs’ rookie-receiver narrative

Through two days of full-team practices, with the context that starting receiver Rashee Rice has been leaving practice for rehabilitation, rookie wideout Cyrus Allen has been the most consistent option for quarterback Patrick Mahomes during seven-on-seven and team periods.

After contributing in standard ways out of the slot during Wednesday and Thursday’s practices, Allen took another step in showcasing what he can do on Friday.

After hauling in a one-handed pass down the field, between three defenders, during a full-team period, Allen made another catch on a tight-window throw from Mahomes in a seven-on-seven period. After Mahomes scanned the front side of the route progression, he turned to the backside route being run by Allen on the sideline versus cornerback Nohl Williams.

Allen secured the catch in bounds and through the ground, proven by the crowd roar that came with it.

On Wednesday, Reid alluded to the belief that Allen has gained Mahomes’s trust. He doubled down on that point after practice on Friday.

“He’s done a nice job; the quarterback trusts him,” Reid said. “He’s got to clean some things up, but he’s willing to work at it and do that. He’s had a productive two days; you have to keep stacking those as you go, then you have to get the pads on, and we’ll see from there.”

Third-year wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who is working to strengthen his chemistry on downfield throws with Mahomes, reminded local media after practice that he warned them.

“This isn’t even surprising,” Worthy described Allen’s performance through three practices. “I told y’all in the offseason that Cyrus is doing this. He’s going to continue to show out in camp.”

Our first ‘chippy’ play of camp comes before the pads

During a seven-on-seven period featuring the starting offense and the starting defense, running back Kenneth Walker caught a pass going towards the sideline and advanced upfield as the play wrapped up. In pursuit, linebacker Drue Tranquill came over and wasn’t able to slow up before Walker cut back in. The two collided.

Walker went to the ground, but quickly bounced up and threw the football directly at Tranquill, pairing the gesture with a quick staredown. Tranquill stood at the podium after practice and addressed one of the first “fiery” plays of camp.

“Small moment,” Tranquill said. “We’re just competing at the end of the down, trying to get the ball out, punch, and then Kenneth’s fired up, throws the ball, and it’s all love. We’re smiling at each other after the play, but we’re just making each other better rep by rep.

“[We’re] trying to make an emphasis this year on getting the ball out; we need to get the ball out more on defense,” Tranquill emphasized to finish his description of the play.

Other notes from practice

Backup quarterback Justin Fields was impressively accurate throwing deep passes for the second consecutive day. During a team period, he perfectly placed a fade pass on the pylon for wide receiver Nikko Remigio to secure between a trailing corner and a safety coming over. The tough catch produced one of the loudest crowd roars of the day.

In the backfield, it appears rookie running back Emmett Johnson has work to do to contribute to the first-team offense. Second-year back Brashard Smith has been featured with the starters much more often; on Friday, Johnson seemed to run exclusively with the second- or third-team units.

It’s hard to take too much away from the Chiefs’ usage of under-center plays during camp so far, but there has been a clear focus on working from those types of formations when running through plays or pass routes in seven-on-seven periods. During a team period on air in the early stages of Friday’s practice, the starting offense ran six of seven plays; most were under-center formations with play action.

With Gillotte out, fourth-year defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah seemed to be a formidable fill-in. Reid pointed him out after practice.

“Felix is actually doing a nice job; it looks like his get-off, his explosion, is better,” Reid shared. “We’ll see when the pads get on… he’s shown us some things here.”