By MATT PIKE
With one week until their first preseason game, the Kansas City Chiefs were back at practice on Saturday continuing to prepare for the Arizona Cardinals.
Ahead of the first preseason game, Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub says there’s a checklist of things to prepare for, wanting to be ready for every situation
“We go over it and we go over it, and we have a lot of walkthroughs in the afternoon where you don’t see us working on hands team or onside kick, all those different scenarios, and there’s thousands of them on special teams, we have to be sure we’re on those,” Toub tells reporters following practice. “And every group’s got to do it, it’s not just the ones, you finish a game your hands team is going to be your fourteen guys, so they need to know what to do, how to lineup, and everything that goes along with it, which is a lot.”
The first preseason game will give Chiefs rookies their first taste of NFL game action,
One of those rookies is third round pick defensive end Ashton Gillotte, whose been getting reps with both the first and second team defense.
Gillotte says getting to touch that field for the first time against the Arizona Cardinals will be a dream come true
“I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a kid and God put this journey on my heart and just to be able to live it out and play at the highest level that’s a privilege and an honor,” Gillotte says.
At this point, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wants Gillotte to focus on learning defensive end but hopes during his career to be able to move him around on the defensive line.
There’s a bit of a dark cloud that’s been looming over Chiefs Training Camp at Missouri Western State University.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice has been back at camp at full strength after suffering a season ending injury in week four last season. But, after being sentenced for an offseason crash last year, Rice is awaiting punishment from the league.
For Rice, while the league and his team sort that suspension out, there’s only one thing he says he can worry about
“All I can do is focus on what I can control right now, and that’s doing what I do best right here on the field,” Rice says.
As for coming back from the injury, Rice says he feels even better than he felt during last year’s camp, being able to focus on things that he hadn’t focused on before during the offseason.
The Chiefs practiced without Jared Wiley today, a new addition to the injury list. Drue Tranquill remained out after a back injury in yesterday’s practice. wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Skyy Moore, tight end Jake Briningstool, safety Deon Bush, and cornerback Kristian Fulton also remained absent from practice due to injury.
The Chiefs practiced again for just over two hours today. They are back at practice tomorrow at 9:15, before an off day on Monday.
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