Nuts and Bolts
- On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs practiced for the second time at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex since mandatory minicamp back in June
- The guys were in shorts for practice, which lasted just under three hours
- De'Anthony Thomas did not practice as he continues to deal with a calf injury
- Here's the FULL INJURY REPORT
- Special teams coordinator Dave Toub, offensive coordinator Doug Pederson and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton all spoke with the media after Tuesday morning's walkthrough
- Here's what we learned from that media session
- It was a beautiful day at practice without a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the upper 70s
- Tuesday also marked the release of Madden NFL '16, which was an exciting thing for some of the Chiefs players
Practice on Tuesday at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex
Top Plays You Should Know About From Tuesday's Practice
It's becoming a regular occurrence, but rookie first-round pick Marcus Peters made two interceptions during an 11-on-11 team period on Tuesday, one of which Eric Berry deflected into the air and was caught by Peters. Peters broke up several other passes as well. He was known as a playmaker when he was drafted, and that's exactly what he's shown so far on the field for the Chiefs.
Early in practice, cornerback Phillip Gaines got into the takeaway mix by stepping in front of Chase Daniel's pass to the outside for an interception. Later in practice, Gaines stepped in front of another Daniel pass for an interception.
Rookie receiver Kenny Cook made a nice catch on the outside with contested coverage from cornerback Jamell Fleming. Cook had to use his entire 6-foot-4 frame to extend and snag the ball out of the air with Fleming draped on top of him.
Alex Smith connected with a few guys down the field but the best throw probably went to Travis Kelce down the middle of the field. It's a combination that fans should see plenty of this season.
View at Practice
Here are a few video clips of what went on early at practice on Tuesday:
Coaches Spotlight: Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub
On Tuesday, September 1 by 3:00 p.m. CT, the Kansas City Chiefs will have to have their roster cut down to 75 players, which means 15 players are going to play their last game as a member of the Chiefs on Friday against the Tennessee Titans.
It's a tough time of the year for everyone involved, and something special teams coordinator Dave Toub says the coaches and personnel staff don't take lightly.
"We evaluate players nightly," Toub explained. "After every practice, we go in and talk about the different players."
Toub was pleased with the amount of plays the second and third-team units were able to put on tape last Friday against the Seattle Seahawks.
"We had a really good evaluation in the last game," he said. "We had a lot of different situations with punts, got a few kick returns with the twos and threes – and those are the guys that we're really evaluating."
For Toub, the process of putting together his four core special teams units means having to "borrow" players from both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
He's looking at players for his units that could be running backs, safeties or linebackers as well.
This puts Toub in a unique position in that he has to communicate with the different positional coaches and coordinators to find out how those individual guys are ranked not only in their positional groups, but also how they fit on his different units.
"What you'd have to do as special teams coach is see where those guys are slotting in with either side of the ball," Toub explained. "We know the fifth or sixth receiver is going to be a special teams guy. You can hear the way coaches evaluate these guys and where they fit in.
"We rank players every night, so you kind of get a heads up of who you're going to be playing with on Sundays."
While Toub balances his different units with the overall composition of the roster, there are certain circumstances where a player's ability on special teams could help overcome a positional ranking.
"In some occasions, if a guy is a really good special teams player—that will enhance the guy's ability to make the football team."
