The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up their third organized team activity practice on Wednesday. They’ll resume OTAs on Tuesday, May 30 after a few days off for the Memorial Day weekend.
According to Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney, TE Jody Fortson, DT Chris Jones, RB Jerick McKinnon, DT Derrick Nnadi, RB Isiah Pacheco and DT Turk Wharton weren’t spotted at practice on Wednesday. Keep in mind that OTAs are voluntary and players are not required to attend, but a few of these absences are notable.
Isiah Pacheco has been present at team facilities, but we know that he’s recovering from two offseason surgeries.
Tershawn Wharton finished the year in 2022 on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
Chris Jones has previously stayed away during voluntary workouts when he was involved in contract talks with the team. He’s in the final year of his current deal and is due for an extension.
International OT Jason Godrick was on the sidelines without a helmet per Sweeney. It’s reasonable that he’s still being brought up to speed in Kansas City, having never played organized football before.
Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed were also present without helmets. Andy Reid spoke about those briefly spoke about those absences with reporters, citing precautionary measures.
“I’m not going to give you all the injuries,” Reid said. “But yeah, we’re just going easy and easing them back.”
The team is not required to report injuries during this phase of the offseason. It’s reasonable to assume based on Reid’s comments that whatever injuries that Sneed and McDuffie are dealing with are considered minor in nature.
These absences allowed some young corners like Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson and Dicaprio Bootle to get some first-team work during OTAs.
