When looking around the Mosaic Life Care fields Tuesday morning on the campus of Missouri Western State University—home of Kansas City Chiefs training camp—the number staff members on and around the field trumped the players by a ratio of more than two-to-one.

In fact, it's going to be that way for the next three days before the rest of the veterans report Thursday afternoon.

Overall, there were just 28 players on the field as camp officially kicked off Tuesday, but a few of the veterans on the field were of note, including linebacker Derrick Johnson and tight end Travis Kelce.

Johnson missed the last few games of last season after a season-ending Achilles injury suffered at home against the Oakland Raiders, while Kelce had offseason shoulder surgery.

On Monday, Chiefs’ head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder shared the good news that neither of those guys will begin camp on the PUP list.

For the rest of the players, who sometimes went through reps Tuesday morning without a full 11 guys on one side of the ball because of the lack of numbers, the fact that they were back on the field was enough.

"It was good," quarterback Alex Smith explained after practice of getting back out there. "It was needed. Obviously, having five to six weeks off, it feels good to get back out and work our way to real football. Guys can press again, get real defensive looks.

"The offseason isn't fully realistic football, so it's good to get back out here. It's always a special time."

After his presser Monday afternoon, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he normally gets the itch to get back to work right after the Fourth of July. And when asked, Smith said he was ready to get back as well.

"I think the older you get, the more it never really leaves you," Smith explained. "Sometimes, when you are younger, you really need the breaks to mentally escape. The older you get, it is kind of a year-round thing. You know the phases better, but it never goes that far from you brain. It is always there, it's always creeping around.

"I was excited and ready for this. I love going away for camp. I love being up here with the guys. It is something you look forward to more and more as you get older."

For the rookies and other young players participating over the next few days, the focus right now is making sure they're ready to go when the rest of the team reports later in the week.

Much of what they're doing now is the same thing they did during OTAs and minicamp.

"I thought it went really well," rookie quarterback Mahomes said after Tuesday's practice. "A lot of young guys were out here and they fought through it. There's not a lot of guys and seeing them work hard every single rep and giving it their all is always awesome."