Your calendar may read Wednesday, but in the world of the Kansas City Chiefs, today is Thursday. And as the rest of the week moves forward, Thursday will be Friday, Friday will be Saturday and Sunday night football against the Minnesota Vikings will take place on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

"The way we set it up, we've treated this week as a game week [in] the way we're working through it," quarterback Alex Smith said after practice. "We had our hands on the game plan a little longer than normally for these preseason games." 

With it being week three of the preseason, head coach Andy Reid has designed the entire week as a precise dress rehearsal of what a game week will feel like during the regular season.

"This was basically our normal Thursday practice," Reid said. "We covered all the situations we do on Thursday (in the regular season)."

One situation the team had to address was missing top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who sat out for the second day in a row with a quad strain. His absence has opened up the door for second-year player Frankie Hammond Jr.

"Frankie got some reps today with the ones in Dwayne's spot so it's good work for him," Reid said of the roster-hopeful. "He's made the best of the opportunities he's had. He's taken great advantage of those and he keeps getting better every day."

Reid admitted that Hammond, who spent the entirety of 2013 on the Chiefs practice squad, was closer to making the active roster last season than many people may have realized.

 "He was right on the edge there," he said. "He's a good football player."

Reid was also impressed with the efforts of left tackle Eric Fisher.

"He actually probably had the best day out here today," Reid said of Fisher, who continued to look stronger after offseason shoulder surgery. "You just keep working and it's small steps but you keep plugging away."

Sharing in the sentiment of young players excelling, rookie safety Daniel Sorensen also turned heads with his performance. As Aaron Murray tried to find his receiver, Sorensen stepped in front of the pass and intercepted it, good enough to be the play of the day.

As this week moves on and the regular season draws nearer, the Chiefs will look to form some good habits in preparation for Minnesota.

When asked about what he looks to do on Saturday in that game, Alex Smith put it simply.

"Score some touchdowns [and] win the game," he said. "You'd love to go out there and you'd love to have success every single play and that's our goal."

If you can't make it out to Arrowhead on Saturday night, be sure to tune in to KCTV5 for full coverage of the Chiefs and the Vikings.

Practice bits

• Running back De'Anthony Thomas did not practice after he woke up this morning with a spasm in his hamstring
• Did not practice list: DB Eric Berry, WR Dwayne Bowe, DE Mike Catapano,**RB Jamaal Charles, DL Jermelle Cudjo, WR Junior Hemingway, LB Josh Martin, LB Joe Mays, T Ryan McKee, CB Damond Smith and RB De'Anthony Thomas
• Left early: CB Chris Owens