Kansas City Chiefs rookies reported for their first NFL training camp on Friday.
Training camp is where the foundation is laid for the upcoming NFL season. It’s when incoming players really get the first taste of life in the league. It can be a little intimidating, even for players coming from some of the best college programs in the nation.
For rookie LB Nick Bolton, he’s relied on his peers who have been through an NFL training camp before. The veterans on the defense offered him some advice on how to approach training camp and get the most out of it.
“Yeah. I kind of got a lot of advice going throughout all of this, but most importantly, just the vets,” Bolton told reporters on Friday. “Just taking it day by day, trying to improve every single day. That’s kind of the mindset that everybody’s told me about getting here. So that’s what I’m going to do and try to execute that, just getting better every single day.”
What does getting better every day mean for Bolton, though? Right now, the rookie is focusing on mastering the playbook, building on what he already had done in OTAs and minicamp. He’s also making sure that he’s paying attention to the other things that come with repetition and practice as well.
“The playbook. Just digesting that, building confidence in that,” Bolton said. “It’s kind of what I was gaining in OTAs. I felt like I had a good foundation throughout OTAs. I learned the playbook, communication, the intangible things that you don’t get by just reading the playbook, it’s about being out there with the guys. So, I’m trying to go ahead and improve on that during training camp.”
Moving to the offensive side of the ball, Creed Humphrey is bringing with him the same blue-collar mentality that he had at Oklahoma.
“Yeah, just come in, take it day by day, and work with a blue-collar mentality,” Humphrey said. “Make sure I’m doing the best I can every single day in everything that I do.”
Humphrey will have a chance to earn the starting center job during training camp. He’s taken nearly every repetition with the first string since OTAs began and hasn’t surrendered any to veteran Austin Blythe.
The rookie will have a very important job, acting as the communicator between Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the offensive line. So far, Humphrey feels confident in the chemistry they’ve built together in a short time this offseason.
“We’re very comfortable right now,” Humphrey said. “We got a lot of good work in during OTAs and everything. So yeah, I feel very comfortable right now. I think we have a lot of comfortability between each other, so excited to get to work.”
As rookies coming into one of the top organizations of the league, expectations are extremely high. Both Humphrey and Bolton are well aware of those expectations and appear ready to attack this training camp head-on.
“Like I said before, I’m entering the best organization in the league right now, so the expectations are high, team standards are high,” Humphrey explained. “I’m ready to get in, get to work, and meet those standards.”
“I know what the ultimate goal here is and so I’m just trying to do my part,” Bolton said. “Trying to be a part of winning a championship and doing my one-eleventh.”
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