Despite mounting injuries, Chiefs’ Andy Reid does not worry about depth

While most NFL teams have many minor injuries during training camp, it is something that everyone looks at very closely in an offseason, where months of activity are revived in a period that is measured in weeks. With each passing day, there are more players on the sidelines with injuries to the groin and hamstring – meaning more serious injuries multiply concerns over depth of roster.

This has been the case with the safety of Kansas City Chiefs Juan Thornhill, who has recovered from an ACL injury he sustained at the end of last season. It was originally thought that he might be ready for training camp, but he ended up on the team’s physically unlisted list when camp opened.

However, Thornhill was back on the training ground on Wednesday – albeit with limited attendance – and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said they would gradually work on him at a faster pace.

“He certainly had a good few workouts before he was activated there again, so we think this is a plus,” he told reporters after the practice.

Reid understood that secondary depth has been a concern – especially since cornerback Alex Brown went on injured reserve for the season.

“As for the young corners, we’ll see,” he said. ‘Time will tell here as we go, but we have a good core of guys. It will unpack everything here in the next few weeks. Everyone works hard and gets a lot of reps – which is good – and we need to be good there. “

Despite the concerns with depth, Reid has more reason for optimism than just his ever-improving behavior. After all … he has Tyrann Mathieu on his team.

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“We use Tyrant in a few different places,” Reid explained, “but he could easily play corners – not that we do – but he has that kind of coverage ability. So when a man comes in to play that position outside, he knows just what that man needs to do to work in that place and he’s able to communicate with him – and he does quite a bit. You hear him talking there and he knows everything that’s going on.

“He has a full understanding of what Steve Spagnuolo wants – he’s actually an extension of Spags on the field – and for Steve it’s becoming so important to have that man. Sa [Mathieu’s] able to get everything right in the secondary – plus he has great instincts on the safety position and nickel position. “

Reid is equally uneasy about depth under his tight ends – although Deon Yelder still needs to be on the field for a refresher practice and Ricky Seals-Jones was ruled out of the field on Monday with a leg injury.

“I’m okay with the tight end situation, as long as we keep growing,” Reid said.

Besides … he loves what he sees of Nick Keizer.

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“Nick has done a good job,” Reid explained. ‘He is getting better every day. He’s a smart, tough guy – and he’s got a good mentor with Travs Kelce, so he’s shown to be done the right way. I ask all those guys: try to get better every day, work through it. “

Reid said his coaches ask a lot about their tight ends.

‘If you do not focus every day that you come out – and [aren’t] disciplined – then you will take a step back. That they did a good job with it – Nick is one of them – that I think works really hard to get himself where he’s one of the boys.

Meanwhile, Reid said the team is doing what it can to prevent additional injuries during training camp.

“We always try to do that,” said the head coach, “because you can be a great coach, but if you do not have your players … we are all together. That we try to get bodies off the ground. to keep and [still] do the things that matter. Play hard and play fast, but we do not take cheap shots at each other; we do not do that. We try to stay away from collisions at the rear end, bodies on the ground with the size and that. ‘

Reid says he advised the rookies to see how the veterans deal with their company for training camps.

“If you just watch our veterans practice, they kind of know how to do it,” Reid said. “That, I tell the young boys that, ‘see how they do it, they move like crazy, but you do not see boys flying around on the ground.'”