Relentlessness has been the name of the game for George Karlaftis since he arrived in Kansas City.
He was going so hard at the team’s rookie minicamp walkthroughs that Andy Reid had to relay a message through DL coach Joe Cullen to tell him to slow down a bit. That energy and effort popped up at mandatory minicamp, with the rookie pass-rusher still bringing it with every opportunity.
On the first day of practice at the three-day minicamp, Karlaftis had a would-be sack on star QB Patrick Mahomes coming around the left end. Of course, there is no live contact during this phase of the offseason program, so there was no actual sacking of the quarterback. Asked about the play by Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney, Karlaftis had a great response.
“I’ll never come close in practice to Patrick Mahomes,” Karlaftis said through laughter. “Yeah, I’ll never come close to him.”
It’s good to know that Karlaftis knows the quarterback is off-limits during practice. At the same time, it’s also good to see him having those successful repetitions despite being unable to hit the quarterback.
While the rookie continues to take full advantage of all his opportunities, he seems more in tune with the pace of practice than he was during rookie minicamp. That said, he’s quite anxious to put the shoulder pads on a get to playing full speed.
“You know, now it’s just kind of the tempo,” Karlaftis explained. “Take a couple of steps and then just lay off it. It’ll be exciting to actually go, go.”
As the minicamp continues, Karlaftis is looking to further hone his skills. He says that going up against talented offensive players like Mahomes will only help him and the rest of the defense improve their game.
“Absolutely, those guys are so great on offense,” Karlaftis said. “Facing the best competition in practice is going to bring the best out of you. I think it’s going to benefit the whole defense.
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