As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for their first off-day of training camp, which takes place Wednesday, coach Andy Reid spoke Tuesday about the most encouraging thing he's seen from his team over the first week or so of camp. When asked the question, Reid specifically praised the rookies, who have impressed him going all the way back to rookie minicamp on how much they've been able to digest what's being thrown their way. 

"I was surprised on how much they'd actually retained and were able to go out there and execute it," Reid recalled of this group at rookie minicamp. "We had pretty good practices, and then you were able to put something together and still coach them on the next point at OTAs."

That ability to retain everything being thrown in their direction has carried over to camp, where many of the rookies have been performing well.

"They've done a good job here transitioning into the pads and then competing in the practices," Reid added. "With the exception of not tackling, everything else is fast and I think they've stepped up for that."

Just within the last few days, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has spoken highly of quarterback , defensive coordinator Bob Sutton has spoken highly of defensive lineman , and special team's coach Dave Toub had high praise for linebacker .

Reid himself spoke of running back Kareem Hunt Tuesday—saying he likes what he's seen from Hunt since the pads came on earlier in the week.

It's a good sign for a team that's also chalked-full of veteran leadership and talent.

Throughout his 18-plus years as an NFL head coach, Reid said he generally begins to see rookies think-less and react-more after they get through preseason games, but added he also knows that's hard for guys out here competing for a job.

The light bulb needs to come on sooner than that, particularly as Reid noted there are six more installs that these young guys have to go through and learn before they step on the field for a game.

Basically, there's no time to fall behind.

"Everybody learns at a different rate, and you are patient to a point, but these kids want to make the team," Reid explained. "So, there's a point where the patience kind of gets thrown out there and expectation and reality set in and you've got to function.

"It's a profession, you got to be able to study, retain, and then function in just a nanosecond."

One of the changes this year that should help a lot of these young players is that many of them will get an extra preseason game to show what they can do.

A few months ago, the NFL owners agreed to a rule change that now has just one cut-down day at the end of the preseason.

In the past, rosters were cut from 90 players down to 75 after the third preseason game, and then from 75 to 53 after the fourth game.

Now, the roster will go straight from 90 to 53 after the fourth preseason game. That gives 15 more players an opportunity to play in that last preseason game, which gives the personnel staff and coaches more time to evaluate.

"I'm glad the league did that," Reid said. "I like that rule. First of all, it makes that fourth game exciting, fans can sit there and see all the same things we're seeing and be able to evaluate some of these young guys.

"They're also able to get a little bit more opportunity to play there, and then for the practices, it's great for the numbers."

Reid and company will continue to throw more at these young players over the next couple of weeks as the team prepares for their first preseason game of the year, which takes place Friday, August 11, at Arrowhead Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Chiefs return to the field Thursday morning at 8:15 for another padded practice.

For more information on camp dates and the events' schedule, check out Chiefs.com/TrainingCamp.