The Kansas City Chiefs were back at training camp for practice on Friday. They’ve only got a few more days of practice, so they’ll kick things into overdrive as they prepare to shift their attention to the Houston Texans in Week 1. The list of players absent from practice is starting to dwindle.
Here is the full list of players that weren’t at practice today:
- DE Alex Okafor (Calf)
- C Austin Reiter (Knee)
- OT Yasir Durant (Head)
- TE Deon Yelder (Groin)
- OT Martinas Rankin (PUP)
Returning from injury on Friday was DE Mike Danna, DT Derrick Nnadi and WR Gehrig Dieter, noted by both the KC Star beat reporter Herbie Teope and The Athletic’s Nate Taylor. It’s not clear if each of the players were full participants in practice, but Chiefs VP of communications Ted Crews said they all practiced in some capacity. It’s a good sign that each of these players got back out there regardless of how much they participated.
Nnadi is someone the Chiefs desperately need healthy for Week 1 given the absence of Mike Pennel due to suspension. It’s also encouraging that Danna was able to get back out there after being carted off during practice with that calf injury. He was having a standout training camp before he got hurt.
Newly signed center Daniel Kilgore was at practice for the first time on Friday. Absent from practice was Chiefs starting center Austin Reiter. The timing of those two things seems too convenient, but the team says that Reiter is dealing with a knee injury. Perhaps the injury to Reiter is what precipitated the signing of Kilgore, but he has been practicing up until this point.
It’s worth noting that Reiter can save over $3 million against the salary cap if he were to be released or traded. Kilgore started a total of 13 games for the Miami Dolphins last season. This is obviously something to monitor moving forward. If Reiter isn’t healthy or is no longer on the roster, would Kilgore step in as the starter in Week 1? Would the Chiefs rely on second-year OL Nick Allegretti in the absence of Reiter? We’ll have to see how all of that shakes out.
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