The Chiefs traded first-, third- and fifth-round picks to move up and draft cornerback Mansoor Delane sixth overall, so when he was knocked out of Organized Team Activities with a shoulder injury, it was a concern. But it doesn’t sound like a big concern going forward.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid addressed reporters on Friday as the team reported to training camp, and he said Delane was in the process of getting medical clearance to practice.
“Delane right now is having his final physical. Right now. So he’s right in the process of that and is doing well there,” Reid said.
The precise details of how Delane suffered the injury are not known, but Reid indicated it was a matter of going too hard during offseason work.
“We like the way he goes about his business,” Reid said. “He’s a focused kid, he seems to be a smart, sharp kid. He’s willing to work. He was banged up a little bit but he’s willing to work. He’s aggressive that way — too aggressive in the way he hurt himself there. You’ve got a good player and he’s got to get in and go and get the reps in the defensive scheme.”
The Chiefs expect Delane to get plenty of reps in training camp, and they hope he’s ready to make an immediate impact in Week One.
Chiefs Clips
As he returns to the practice field, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will wear a brace on his surgically repaired knee. But he says he isn’t sure how long he’ll wear it.
Mahomes, who tore his ACL on December 14, said he could keep wearing the brace going forward, or he could choose to take it off, depending on how he feels.
“There isn’t really a plan for it,” Mahomes said. “I’m going start off with it just because I’ve worn it before and I feel comfortable with it. So that that’s kind of where we will start, but it’s not like I’ve been told I have to wear it or how long I have to wear it. It’s just going to be my comfortability how I feel. But I will start with it on just because I feel like I can still move and be myself with it. I played with it in college and then we’ll just see where we go from there.”
Mahomes wore a brace in 2015 at Texas Tech, after he suffered a knee injury in a game against TCU, and played well with it. If he plays well with it through training camp he’ll keep it on, but if he decides to ditch the brace, he’s medically cleared to play without it.
Patrick Mahomes has made a remarkable recovery from a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. The Chiefs quarterback injured his knee in a Dec. 14 game and underwent surgery the following day.
A little over seven months later, he is cleared for training camp.
Mahomes said he consulted with several players who went through a similar rehab.
“I talked to Tom [Brady] early in the process because he had the same injury, a very similar injury that I had,” Mahomes said Friday, via Pete Sweeney of the Kansas City Star.
Brady tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee during the season opener in 2008 before winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2009.
“It’s just talking to guys that have been through this process and just saying how you have to stay on top of it,” Mahomes said. “It’s a long process. I remember sitting on the table and watching us play those last few games and how much it hurt me, but I knew that if I continued to work, I could be at this spot where I get cleared for practice. Now I’m just trying to get to that spot where I’m cleared to play in the regular season on that first week.”
Mahomes also talked to former Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu and veteran tight end Zach Ertz. Mathieu tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in 2013 and had another ACL tear in 2015, and Ertz tore his ACL a week before Mahomes’ injury.
His conversations with Ertz turned into a rehab competition.
“We kind of had like competitions on where we were at, and where we were rehabbing,” Mahomes said of Ertz. “It would start off as how much deadlift — what you’re deadlifting, where you’re at — and then [we would] send little videos. He’s jumping and doing certain acceleration things, and I’m sending him next week doing cutting and stuff like that.
“It keeps the competition going because it’s a long process and you feel like sometimes you’re lonely because you’re doing stuff by yourself, and you’re just competing against yourself, so it gave me someone else that I can compete with to push my competitive drive.”
Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is cleared for training camp, coach Andy Reid said Friday.
“Rashee Rice, with his knee debridement, is doing great,” Reid said, via Jordan Foote of SI.com. “So he will, again, go. We’ll keep an eye on him, but he’s cleared to go.”
Rice underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in May before serving a 30-day sentence for violating his probation by testing positive for THC. Rice was released from Dallas County Jail on June 16.
“He’s done a great job rehabbing up here,” Reid said. “He’s been up here the whole time. He’ll be in and out here in the next couple of days, but he’s been here throughout.”
Undrafted rookie tight end John Michael Gyllenborg is working through a knee sprain that kept him out of the offseason program.
“Gyllenborg, he’s still working through the knee sprain which he had,” Reid said. “They’re doing some other evaluations on him, so we’ll just see for this camp here, most likely, he won’t get much work there.”
The Titans have agreed to terms with free agent defensive back Nazeeh Johnson, according to his representation, Katz Brothers Sports.
Johnson, 28, visited the Eagles and Giants this offseason after becoming a free agent in March.
The Chiefs made Johnson a seventh-round pick in 2022, and he spent his first four seasons with them. He played only two games last season after injuring a shoulder in the preseason.
Johnson missed all of 2023 with a torn ACL.
He has played 29 games with six starts in his career, with all of his 494 defensive snaps coming in 2024. He has also played 286 special teams snaps.
Johnson has totaled 66 tackles and a sack in the regular season, with eight tackles in the postseason.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has said throughout the offseason that his goal is to be ready for the start of the regular season after suffering a torn ACL in December.
He’s officially taken another step in that endeavor, as he’s been medically cleared to fully participate in training camp.
Mahomes said in his Friday press conference that he found out he’d been cleared two days ago. But while he’s looking forward to practicing, he’s not making any declarations about his Week 1 availability quite yet.
“Just looking at the dates, and there were certain checkpoints I had to get to, to get to this point,” Mahomes said. “And this is just another checkpoint on the schedule. So you have to continue to work. It’s not like it’s over and I’m going to be able to play a game tomorrow. You’ve got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice and prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors, everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before — if not better — and I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games.”
Mahomes said he’s doing much better when it comes to changing directions than he was during the offseason program when he last spoke to the media.
“That’s the stuff I had to prove to the doctors and the coaches and everybody like that to be at this point,” Mahomes said. “So, it’s a long process. The process isn’t over. It’ll be something I’ll probably deal with for the next few years of my career and throughout the rest of my career. But you have to stay on top of that stuff. But I feel comfortable now of being able to go out there and run the offense the way the offense is supposed to be run.”
Both Reid and Mahomes talked about taking things day by day when it comes to the quarterback practicing, as he’s still coming off of a major injury. But Mahomes wants to be fully immersed in whatever the Chiefs are doing to get himself ready for September.
“I want him to call [the offense in practice] like he’s going to call it in the regular season,” Mahomes said. “So, whatever that is, that’s going to be the best way for me to prepare myself. I can always let him know if I need to get pulled back or anything like that. But how I am as a competitor, I want to go out there and test it. You want to test it now in training camp, see where you’re at, so when you get to the regular season, it’s almost a little bit easier because you’ve kind of been through it all. That’s how he runs training camp.
“I don’t think he’s going to take it light on anyone — including me. And then, I’m going to go out there and see what I can do.”
Mahomes usually plays in preseason games, but that could change this year given the status of his knee.
“I think we’ll just see when we get there,” Mahomes said. “I’m a competitor, so gameday, I’m going to want to be out there. But I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important. But, we will see. The coaches and docs will kind of make that decision for me. But I’ll prepare myself like I”m going to play. And if I’m just doing a very hard warm-up, I will take that as serious as playing in the preseason game. It’s a couple weeks away, but it feels like a long way away. I’m going to go with the next step of just going out with the rookies this week.”
After a grueling process during the offseason, Mahomes is glad to be back out of the training room full-time.
“I’m excited just to be able to play football,” Mahomes said. “I’ve been seeing cinderblock walls rehabbing every day in Kansas City. So, now to get to be on the practice field with my teammates and my brothers, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Though he tore his ACL in December, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been fully cleared to practice, head coach Andy Reid said in his Friday press conference.
“Pat’s doing great with his [rehab],” Reid said. “Right now he’s got clearance to practice and do all the different periods that we have in this camp. We’ll just take it day by day and see how he does. He’ll have plenty of eyes on him from coaches to trainers to doctors.
“But right now, he’s been cleared to go ahead and participate fully.”
Does that mean he’s going to play Week 1?
“I’m optimistic, and I know he is extremely optimistic,” Reid said. “But I think you’ve got to see how things go here. Let’s just see where we’re at and not make any predictions or anything else. Take it day by day and see where it goes.”
Reid noted that Mahomes will go through his normal reps at the start of camp. Chiefs quarterbacks and rookies reported to camp on Friday, which inherently gives the QBs a little more ramp-up time before the rest of the squad reports on July 28.
But either way, Reid doesn’t anticipate Mahomes’ reps will be any different in camp.
“We’ll see about games and all that once we get there. But right now, we’re just going to take it day by day and see how he does,” Reid said. “But he’s been given clearance.
“He’s been up here every day, doing his thing, rehabbing. I mentioned before how much time he spent — if anybody spent time doing this thing the right way, he’s it. We appreciate that. And he’s been given clearance by the doctors to work. And they’re pretty comfortable with that. But keeping an eye on him.”
Tyreek Hill remains a free agent and for good reason.
The wide receiver released a rehab workout video on Wednesday, saying that after two surgeries he still has no power in his left leg.
“So it’s about 10 months after doing two surgeries,” Hill said. “My left leg is the one that I injured. I have no power in my left leg, so I’m trying to regain all the power back in my left leg. But it’s one day at a time.”
In the 1-minute, 38-second social media post, titled Cheetah, Reborn, Hill runs and jumps outside on turf, on a basketball court and in a pool at what appears to be his Florida home.
“I ain’t going to tell you what my timeline is, but timeline looking real good right now, man,” Hill said.
Hill dislocated his knee and tore multiple ligaments, including his ACL, in a Sept. 29 game against the Jets. He was hospitalized overnight and required surgery the next day.
“You know, they told me I might not be able to walk again, and the doctor is like, ‘Bro, we don’t know what’s going to happen with your future,’ and now look at me. God is good,” Hill said. “I feel good.”
The Dolphins released Hill on Feb. 16, making him a free agent.
As the Chiefs prepare to move to a new domed stadium in Kansas, the details made available to date don’t address one key factor.
Will the playing surface be natural grass or artificial turf?
Per the Chiefs, no official decision has been made as to the issue of grass or turf. The team’s preference, however, is grass.
If it’s grass, the new venue will need to have a way to move the grass for the various other events that the stadium will host. That means either having a tray that slides out of the facility (like the Cardinals and Raiders use) or a more elaborate system that stores the grass surface underground.
At a time when the NFL Players Association is pushing for grass in all NFL venues, the future of the Chiefs’ playing surface becomes critical. They’re currently one of 16 teams that play on grass. The union will want to keep it that way.
The Chiefs currently do as well. It all comes down to how much it will cost to have a system for ensuring that a high-quality grass surface is available in what will be another building with a roof, and whether the money will be there to fund the difference in cost between having grass and rolling out the green carpet.
The Chiefs will leave Arrowhead Stadium for a new indoor home in Kansas in 2031, but they’re promising their fans will sound as loud as ever.
The team released renderings of the new stadium design today, and owner Clark Hunt said he’s confident fans are going to like what they see — and hear.
“Today we are excited to show Chiefs Kingdom a first look at our new home,” Hunt said. “From the beginning, our goal has been to build something that improved the gameday experience for every single fan. This new stadium will do just that. It’s spectacular. It honors the rich legacy of this franchise while setting a bold course for the future of Chiefs Kingdom. While we’re still finalizing many of the details, there are a few things we know for sure: it will hold 70,000 fans, it will still be the best place in the world to tailgate, and the whole building will be built for noise.”
The indoor stadium represents another step away from football in the elements, with Kansas City no longer playing in the cold and snow in December and January, as they have for decades.
The new stadium will have a translucent roof that the team describes as “maximizing visibility for military flyovers.”
The stadium is expected to cost $3 billion, of which taxpayers are paying $1.8 billion.
