ST. JOSEPH | They called it training camp, but the Chiefs’ first practice session of the new season was more like an offseason affair. Several veterans couldn’t be on hand because of new NFL rules, leaving some unlikely players in the starting lineup as the Chiefs began preparing for the defense of their AFC West championship.
“It was a skeleton crew, it felt like,” coach Todd Haley said. “In general, across the board, it didn’t feel like training camp.”
Sixty-one players were on the field Friday, including first-round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin, who signed his contract earlier in the day.
Some veteran free agents like wide receiver Steve Breaston and center Casey Wiegmann — one joining the Chiefs and the other rejoining them — were nowhere to be found. Neither were the four restricted free agents, cornerback Brandon Carr, defensive end Wallace Gilberry, tackle Barry Richardson and fullback Mike Cox, allowed to be at practice.
They were eligible to join the Chiefs on Friday night, after the opening of the free-agent signing period, but also after practice concluded. The Chiefs are allowed to have 90 players under contract, so there will be even more to come.
Haley said he didn’t want to waste a good first-day, team-meeting message to the Chiefs when so many players were still missing.
“I don’t know if we want to shoot all our guns in the first team talk because we don’t have everybody,” he said. “We’ll get to get some more guys into the mix, at least (in meetings). … Those guys will then be around. They just won’t be able to do much.”
Wiegmann, Breaston and the other free agents who signed Friday can go to meetings and can watch practice, but can’t participate in practice or go through conditioning sessions until Aug. 4.
That NFL rule is a result of the offseason player lockout and a scrambled start to the league season.
The Chiefs patched together a defensive lineup that included Pierre Walters starting for unsigned franchise player Tamba Hali at one outside linebacker spot. On offense, Darryl Harris started at center, Bobby Greenwood at right tackle and rookie Shane Bannon at fullback.
Walters, Harris, and Greenwood were practice-squad players while Bannon is a seventh-round draft pick. At best, they can all expect to be backups and special-teams players this season.
But there they were, taking the place of key players such as Hali and Wiegmann. That, plus the slower pace of practice — Haley wants to ease the Chiefs back into things after they missed all of offseason practice — gave it a feel of something less than training camp.
“The format and everything else definitely felt a little different from what our normal practice schedule is,” quarterback Matt Cassel said.
Haley said the Chiefs would continue to work at a slow pace for the time being.
“This is a little different situation than anybody has ever been through,” he said. “We’re just trying to get it right. It’s going to be a little heavier emphasis on the lifting and the conditioning aspect of this with our team right now.
“When we feel comfortable adding football to it, that’s what we’re going to do. It will start out at a pretty slow pace. That’s the plan, and we have to have the ability to adjust as we see the team.”
The Chiefs usually leave training camp having practiced their entire playbook, but that might not be the case this year.
“That is the lesser concern right now,” Haley said. “You know how important the offseason is to me and … last year, one of the keys to our success was the condition we were able to get in during the 3 1/2 months of the offseason. That won’t change for me. We’ve just got a condensed time to make sure the team is ready to hold up to the rigors of an NFL season.”
Haley said he was pleased with the physical condition in which many players reported to camp. But one player, rookie free agent offensive lineman Chris Harr, vomited during practice.
“I’m encouraged by the way the majority of them look like they’ve taken care of themselves, which is not always easy when you’re on your own,” Haley said.
“Not that everybody is on the same level, but overall, I’m encouraged with the way everybody looks.”
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