Two weeks down and one to go in OTAs, coach Andy Reid says the Chiefs are getting their feet under them.
“It builds a foundation, that’s what we’re doing,” Reid said Thursday of the importance of OTAs. “It builds a foundation where you can at least get used to some of the tempo, the base of the load of the plays. So when you get up there, and in these next few weeks you better get yourself in primo shape, you know somewhat to expect.
“Then you can go play football and not be thinking or sitting in a cold tub somewhere trying to recover and not be able to function. So this gives them a pretty good foundation for that.”
The Chiefs will wrap up OTAs later this week and then have mandatory minicamp June 14-16. All of this, of course, is building up to training camp in July.
“The next step is you get banged around a little bit and your body’s tired, how you going to fight through it mentally and physically?” Reid said. “That becomes important, and the pace of training camp is a lot more vigorous than what you’re getting right now because of the contact. And we’ll see how things go there, but I like what I’m seeing out here.”
Reid has noticed the team’s chemistry is still good, thanks in large part to Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
“I believe it’s there,” Reid said. “It starts with Pat and Kelce and some of the guys that are returning. I think it’s also a time to develop your own personality as a football team. So we’ll get in there and there’s going to be some highs and some lows as they work through everything.
“Then you’re going to come out with what they are, what this team is. But I feel confident that we have the right personalities. I feel confident that we have good players.”
Among the new arrivals are veteran wideouts JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. And defensively, the team will be breaking in safety Justin Reid and several rookies, including first-round picks Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis.
“They’re getting there,” Reid said of the new faces. “We’re adding a load in on them every day and they’re pounding through it. So I’ve been pretty impressed with how they’re handling things on both sides of the ball. And we can go out and execute and look like we’ve played before so that’s a plus.”
