The Kansas City Chiefs took the field for the eighth practice of training camp on Wednesday morning as the three-time defending AFC champions continued their preparation for the upcoming season.
Here's a quick rundown of what took place during Wednesday's practice, and for reference, all previous practice reports are below:
1. The Chiefs competed in a lighter, "10-10-10" practice on Wednesday.
The Chiefs took the field for a lighter, "10-10-10" practice on Wednesday following the three-straight padded practices that took place between Sunday and Tuesday.
A "10-10-10" session, which is not padded, consists of what is essentially a circuit of 10 offensive plays, 10 defensive plays and 10 special teams plays. Each segment is of the 11-on-11 variety, but unlike a standard period, the idea is to demonstrate what success looks like for the three respective phases. During the "offensive period," for example," the first-team offense competes against the second or third-team defense in an effort to skew the results toward the offense.
The opposing unit is still encouraged to make plays, but if the concept plays out properly, each segment of the team will experience what success looks like within the given scheme.
The Chiefs completed nearly three full circuits of the "10-10-10" format on Wednesday with three offensive periods, three defensive periods and two special teams segments.
2. The first "offensive period" focused on the deep passing game.
Every period of a "10-10-10" practice focuses on a specific area for each respective phase, and for the offense, Head Coach Andy Reid clearly emphasized the deep passing game during the first 10 plays of Wednesday's practice.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes executed the period to near perfection with nine completions across the offense's 10 plays, connecting with tight end Travis Kelce (twice), tight end Noah Gray (twice), wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (twice), wide receiver Jason Brownlee, wide receiver Jimmy Holiday and wide receiver Nikko Remigio downfield.
The offense worked on the running game during its second period before wrapping up practice with a segment focused on the short and intermediate passing game.
3. Safeties Bryan Cook and Jaden Hicks each hauled in an interception during the first defensive period.
Cook made a diving interception during the first defensive period of practice before Hicks hauled in a pick of his own a little bit later. Hicks, whose interception took place near the sideline, caught the ball off a deflection and managed to get both feet in-bounds to complete the play.
Safety Mike Edwards later tallied an interception as well during the second defensive period of the morning.
4. The defense emphasized the red zone during its final segment of practice.
Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo chose to focus on the red zone during the defense's final period of practice on Wednesday.
A few standouts from the segment were cornerback Jaylen Watson, who made an impressive pass-breakup on a short throw, and defensive end Ashton Gillotte, whose swat at the line of scrimmage blew up a play before it even began.
An off day on the horizon, Spagnuolo spoke about his expectations for the defense moving forward.
"What will be really interesting to me is that we had the three hard days, today was a 10-10-10, and then we get the day off," Spagnuolo said. "The tough day to come back is the next one after you've had the day off, so if we can ramp it up on that day, I'll be pretty happy."
5. Here's a look at Wednesday's injury report.
The Chiefs were without wide receiver Hollywood Brown (ankle), wide receiver Xavier Worthy (concussion protocol), cornerback Kristian Fulton (knee), offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee), linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (ankle), cornerback Darius Rush (hamstring), cornerback Eric Scott (knee), tight end Jake Briningstool (hamstring), safety Deon Bush (hamstring) and wide receiver Skyy Moore (hamstring) due to injury on Wednesday.
Next up, the Chiefs will enjoy a day off from practice on Thursday before taking the field on Friday for the ninth practice of training camp. For a look at the training camp schedule or for more information on how to reserve tickets, click here.
