The main headline from the 11th practice of the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp on Monday was the return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Head coach Andy Reid spoke to local media after practice and officially welcomed him back.
He was ready to go from the jump on Monday morning, yelling orders of attention to detail before the first-team offense even took its first snap together on air.
“Get the [expletive] out of the huddle,” Bieniemy barked loudly enough to be heard from the bleachers on
the far field.
Later in a nine-on-seven run period, Bieniemy alerted his unit to its body language a few plays in.
“Hands off your [expletive] hips!”
Before the first-team offense lined up against the starting defense for a red-zone period, Bieniemy had a simple instruction for the group.
“Every [expletive] play!”
Throughout the day, the word “finish” was yelled loudly and aggressively as ball carriers worked through the whistle. If you attended camp without seeing the notification that Bieniemy was back with the team, you certainly heard of his return by the end of the day.
His return was also seen during a pass-protection drill. He was hands-on with the running backs, coaching up Kenneth Walker and Brashard Smith with intensity after each player finished with reps.
During this one-on-one period, undrafted rookie running back Jaydn Ott whiffed against undrafted rookie linebacker Wesley Bissainthe. Bieniemy loudly critiqued the rep before making the two do it again.
“Having a guy like that come back on the field, a competitor, it brings the best out of us also on defense,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton told reporters after practice on Monday. “If we win a rep, he doesn’t really care about winning a rep, a ‘do it again’ type of deal. Great to have him back in the building.”
Bieniemy has been away from Kansas City since the 2022 season, meaning there are plenty of starters on offense who are unfamiliar with Bieniemy in-season. Left guard Kingsley Suamataia is one of them. He was asked about his experience so far with his new offensive coordinator.
“Coach EB, he’s crazy,” Suamataia said with wide eyes before cracking a smile.
“He’s a great guy, very vocal,” Suamataia continued. “He pushes us to our limits every day so we can be the best offense out there.”
“To be able to have his voice, his coaching points, and his energy, it’s infectious,” Second-year tight end Jake Briningstool said at the podium on Monday. “It’s great to have him back out here.”
Other notes from practice
State of the receivers
While wide receiver Xavier Worthy walked down the hill in pads on Monday, he did not participate in team periods for the most part. The starting three receivers for the offense were Rashee Rice, Tyquan Thornton and Jalen Royals.
Royals, the second-year wideout from Utah State, has had an up-and-down camp. He flashed with the starting offense on Saturday, but was quieter on Monday; Andy Reid was asked about Royals’ camp so far at the podium.
“He’s getting better every day, faster every day,” Reid shared. “Had some nice catches today. Just have to keep going, you have to stack the days; it’s not what you did today, you have to do well tomorrow, so you can’t drop back off. That’s the challenge.”
Rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen was back in the mix with the starting offense in team periods, scoring a touchdown in a seven-on-seven red zone period that showed chemistry with quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the scramble drill, even if the extended play may have been a sack in live action.
However, it was Tyquan Thornton who had the biggest day of all the team’s receivers on Monday. Mahomes made two beautiful passes to Thornton streaking downfield in seven-on-seven periods, both finishing as deep touchdowns.
Tight end rotation
Reid was asked about the tight ends after practice, a group that may have one of the biggest battles for positioning in the preseason. Behind star tight end Travis Kelce, incumbents Noah Gray and Jared Wiley are jockeying for snaps.
“You’re seeing the challenge between the two of them. They’re competing as that whole group is,” Reid told reporters.
Reid also pointed to reserve tight ends Tre Watson and Jake Briningstool when talking about competition in the tight end room.
“Tre’s right in the mix there too; it’s a good group of young guys. Big, strong guys. Briningstool’s whole thing was if he could stay on the field, and he has been doing that.”
The head coach also noted that Kelce, in his 14th camp, isn’t making it easy on the coaches to get a look at his backups.
“You gotta pull Travis off the field,” Reid said with a smile. “If he hears the next play and it’s one he kind of likes, you have to fight him to get him off. I love that part of him.”
And it’s great for the young guys; that’s the best part,“ Reid elaborated. ”He shares that energy with them; he’s not afraid to get on guys and challenge them, then he walks his part of it.”
Kahlil Benson at right guard again
With starting right guard Trey Smith still recovering from a hip injury, rookie Kahlil Benson manned the right guard position for the third consecutive day alongside veteran right tackle Jaylon Moore. Reid commented on the look at Benson inside after he spent the first week of camp at right tackle.
“I think it’s good for him to have some flexibility in there to do both,” Reid said. “We worked him a little bit in there in OTAs, we liked what we saw, so this gives him real competition in there now where Spags is throwing a lot of different things at you; you have to be able to adjust.
It’ll do nothing but help him,“ Reid emphasized. ”Even at the tackle spot, it will help him once he jumps back there.”
