Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and his offensive teammates weren’t the only players on the team who got together of their own volition during the offseason to get some work in.
Speaking to the media to kick off the team’s offseason workout program, Chiefs LB Nick Bolton informed local reporters of what he’s been up to this offseason. He stopped by the team facility for workouts when he was in town, he linked up with fellow LB Willie Gay Jr. for workouts and he also met up with a few defenders (and one receiver) who were in Arizona for offseason training.
“Yeah, there’s been a couple of times when I work out at the facility, there have been a couple of guys there. I’ve worked out with Willie (Gay). I know Jermaine (Carter) got in today. Also, Elijah Lee got in today. I’m looking forward to working out with those guys. In the offseason, I was actually in Arizona. Justin Reid was down there. We had a couple of guys down there. Cornell Powell, Juan (Thornhill) was down there. We all get work in, we don’t really post to social media, but we’re all getting work in together trying to improve and trying to reach the goal at the end of the year to hoist up the trophy.”
It’s important for players on the defensive side of the ball to get together and build some chemistry too. As much change as there has been at the receiver position, there’s been perhaps an equal amount of change on the defensive side of the ball.
With veteran linebacker Anthony Hitchens no longer on the team, many expect Bolton to take up a leadership role for that position group. He doesn’t necessarily feel the pressure to pick up that mantle and expects a collective effort from his defensive teammates when it comes to leadership.
“I feel like going into this year, it’s collective, it’s not just me,” Bolton said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces. I got older guys, our D-Line is kind of the vets of our defense right now. We’re going to rely on those guys as the season goes on. Us, being linebackers, we’ve just got to be vocal, make sure that everybody is on the same page, communicating. Make sure that everyone is comfortable with each other. That will come as the season goes on, guys coming in the next couple of weeks, we’ll build the foundation now so that we can go in during phase two and hit the field with trust.”
As for the foundation they’re putting together right now, there hasn’t been any specific discussion or roles as they’re still very early in the offseason. They’re still feeling things out in the linebacker room as they welcome some new players and get used to having a new position coach (former defensive line coach Brendan Daly) after having Matt House as their linebacker coach for the past three seasons.
“Most conversations are just on how we can improve as a unit,” Bolton said. “How can we be better athletes, that’s really what we’re working on. We haven’t really got into football, so we haven’t really discussed the logistics of positions and stuff like that. We’re just laying the groundwork, communicating and getting to know each other, stuff like that. We’ve got a brand new coach (Brendan Daly), so we’re communicating with him as well with the other linebackers, just introducing ourselves. That’s where we’re at right now, but we’re excited by what we’ve got going forward.”
