The Kansas City Chiefs will begin their three-day rookie minicamp on Saturday, May 6 and will wrap up on Monday, May 8.
All of the Chiefs’ 2023 NFL draft picks, new UDFAs signings, UDFA tryouts, injured veteran players, veteran tryout players and select first-year players will get to work at the team’s training facility. What will rookies be doing at minicamp? Well, for draft picks it’s really their first taste of life in the NFL.
Travis Kelce recently described rookie minicamps as “chaotic” and that they’re “nothing like a structured practice in the NFL.” That’s a bit different than the description that Andy Reid gave back in 2018. Players are allowed to wear helmets, but no pads during the on-field portion of rookie minicamp. They’ll go through a walkthrough, then they’ll participate in a practice that lasts a few hours, followed by a special teams period and meetings.
This year should be an even greater return to normalcy for Kansas City because they’ll have a lot more players on hand. That group will include seven draft picks, over a dozen undrafted free agents signings, and a similar number of tryout players. As recently as 2021, teams were not permitted a full allotment of players at rookie minicamp due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There will also likely be some injured players in attendance for Kansas City. Justyn Ross and Tershawn Wharton should be eligible to participate after finishing the 2023 NFL season on injured reserve.
