Andy Reid has been coming to training camp with the Kansas
City Chiefs long enough to know his way around Missouri Western State
University
Nick
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outdoor practice fields or the quickest way to the dining hall.Sometimes the
Chiefs' coach forgets that this experience is new for a whole bunch of
people.Most of them reside on his rebuilt defense.After the Chiefs put together
one of the worst seasons in franchise history on that side of the ball, yet
still reached the AFC championship game thanks to their record-setting offense,
Reid made the painful decision to part ways with longtime friend and coordinator
Bob Sutton.In his place came Steve Spagnuolo, and that was just the start of the
changes.Spagnuolo immediately decided to convert the Chiefs from a 3-4 scheme to
a 4-3 defense, then watched as general manager Brett Veach began finding players
to fill it out. They traded for defensive end Frank Clark and signed him to a
$104 million, five-year extension, and added free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu on
a $42 million, three-year deal to become the quarterback of their secondary.They
parted with longtime stalwarts Justin Houston, Eric Berry and Dee
Ford
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Emmanuel Ogbah, linebacker Damien Wilson and cornerback Bashaud Breeland.It was
an unprecedented overhaul for a team that came within a hair of playing in the
Super Bowl."In my mind we're all coming up for our seventh camp and then I have
to keep reminding myself that these guys don't even know how to get up to the
practice field," Reid said. "There's some nice leadership qualities from some of
those players that were added, and intensity. I've been looking forward to a
competitive camp up here. It should be pretty exciting."That competition already
has been on display.Clark spent the first padded practice Monday getting into
the face of left tackle Mitchell Schwartz during one-on-one drills. Then, he
stood before a bank of television cameras and proudly proclaimed that the
"defense won the day," no doubt igniting a fire under that high-powered
offense."Spags is a legendary coach," Clark said. "You know, he came in and he
threw everything at us in the spring. He put the whole script out there and put
it into our hands as players, and to really invest our time learning this
playbook. You look down at his tree of him coaching with Coach
Reid
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Giants' defense — he's just a great coach."Clark should know something about
great defenses, too. The Chiefs acquired him from Seattle, where he was part of
coach Pete Carroll's highly regarded "Legion of Boom."Yet the differences
between the Chiefs' defense last season and this season extend far beyond the
coaching staff, the scheme and the personnel, though they could have as many as
seven new starters.There is also a different personality.The Chiefs played the
quintessential bend-but-don't-break style last season, giving up huge yardage
before buckling down. That softness came back to haunt them in the AFC title
game, when Tom Brady led the Patriots downfield on the first possession of
overtime for the winning score.The bunch that has taken the practice fields at
Missouri Western this week already have shown more energy, more speed and more
attack. There were several big hits during practice
Tuesday
12th Fan Color
Rush Jersey , including on a play in which star wide receiver Tyreek Hill
had to leave with a bruised quad muscle."I love training camp. I always have,
right from the beginning when I was with Andy and we used to go to Lehigh
University (with) Philadelphia," Spagnuolo said after Tuesday's practice. "We're
getting closer to football. It's not all the way there because we can't
tackle."That won't happen until the Chiefs play their preseason opener Aug. 10
against the Bengals.Then they'll begin to know whether their defensive overhaul
has paid off."All I do is focus on them getting better each day," Spagnuolo
said. "Now, that's a cliche, right? But it's real. I mean, if we don't do that
or buy into it and embrace it, all we'll do is go back."NOTES: Hill walked off
the field before riding in a cart to the locker rooms. The Chiefs do not believe
his injury is serious. ... RT Mitchell Schwartz (back) did not practice Tuesday.
Cam Erving took his place with the starters. ... Breeland (lacerated thumb) was
back at practice. ... The Chiefs practice again Wednesday before their first day
off of training camp. After Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson appeared on and
fielded a question about possibly becoming the highest-paid player in league
history, Simms and I suggested that Wilson may have been sending the Seahawks a
message. (Simms took the cynicism to the next
level
Tyler Lockett
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planted by Wilson’s people.)Given the report that Wilson wants a new deal in
place before the start of the offseason program on April 15, it’s seeming even
more likely that Wilson was sending the team a message. And the full message is
now clear: Make me the highest-paid player in league by April 15.That’s the only
logical conclusion to the current situation. It’s not simply a contract that he
wants; it’s a record contract. It’s a more-than-$33.5
million-per-year-in-new-money contract.The next question becomes what will
Wilson do if he doesn’t get what he wants. I’ll address that in another post,
one that also looks at what a new deal for Russell Wilson would look like, and
why his expectation for a deal worth more than $33.5 million per year makes
sense, in light of his alternative options.If you want to know more along those
lines now, you can listen to Tuesday’s #PFTPM, during which I reacted in real
time to the news of Wilson’s artificial deadline.
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