The Kansas City Chiefs will close out Phase 3 of the offseason workout program with a three-day mandatory minicamp beginning on Tuesday.
This practice session isn’t all that different from what the team has been doing in OTAs. The lone difference is that workouts are no longer voluntary and players must attend or risk being fined by the team.
With all of that in mind, here are three things to keep an eye on as mandatory minicamp begins for the Chiefs:
What is Chris Jones' status?
Chris Jones has stayed away for the entirety of voluntary offseason workouts. While this isn’t the most uncommon for certain veterans to stay away during OTAs, it’s notable for Jones, who is in the final year of his contract with the team. We know that Jones has indicated he wants to stay with the Chiefs for the remainder of his career. Whether Jones shows up for the team’s mandatory minicamp will tell us just how dire the situation is and if the two sides might be close to a deal.
Do any injured players return to practice?
The Chiefs have had some key pieces out with injury during OTAs, including Trent McDuffie, L’Jarius Sneed, Isiah Pacheco, Tershawn Wharton and Mike Edwards. Pacheco and Wharton haven’t been at practice yet as both are returning from injuries that required surgery. Andy Reid suggested the team was being cautious with others like McDuffie and Sneed. The team isn’t required to report injuries to the media at this point in time during the offseason, so we likely won’t get any sort of official updates on their status. Some of these players could be ready to return to the practice field as early as Tuesday or they could be held out until training camp.
Does pecking order change with all 90 players in the building?
With players like Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon absent from OTAs, UDFA RB Deneric Prince had been getting a ton of work with the first-team offense. Should either Pacheco or McKinnon return to action, will that persist? There are some other players who have been mixing in with the first-team offense and defense that also fall in this same category such as Matt Bushman, Justyn Ross, Wanya Morris, Chamarri Conner and Dicaprio Bootle.
