Usually this time of year the newest rookie players would be getting their feet wet for the first time, veterans would be getting ready for voluntary workouts, and we’d be getting an early look at the 2020 Kansas City Chiefs. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the NFL is operating this offseason, with the league and the NFLPA agreeing to a voluntary virtual offseason program supplanting what would normally take place at this time.
During the Chiefs’ live broadcast revealing the 2020 NFL schedule, head coach Andy Reid revealed an interesting tidbit about the virtual offseason program and how it has gone for Kansas City. Reid said that thus far, the team has seen 100% attendance from their players during the virtual offseason program.
“. . .Our guys have attacked this whole deal with the virtual installs, the scheme evaluations that we did, all the plays from last year that we can learn from for this year,” said Reid. “The guys have gone back and it has been 100% attendance, which is ridiculous. These guys are into it. They want to learn and then we get to add the rookies in this thing in the next go around. We did have a three-day virtual rookie minicamp where we also could do some installs with them and get them caught up, sort of, to where they need to be.”
After the 2019 season, the players in Kansas City are so bought in with the culture and coaching that they had 100% attendance for the earliest portion of the voluntary virtual offseason program. Other teams, like the New Orleans Saints, aren’t even having a virtual offseason program. Chiefs players appear to be dedicated to using every ounce of time possible toward getting prepared and better for the 2020 NFL season.
Having perfect attendance also means that defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was franchise tagged by the Chiefs and still seeks a long-term contract extension, was present and accounted for during this period. If you’ll recall, Jones sat out all of the Chiefs’ voluntary workouts in 2019, missed mandatory minicamp, but reported on time for training camp. Jones’ attendance perhaps signals some work that has been done behind the scenes, working toward a new contract extension.
At the same time, unlike with on-field workouts, this virtual offseason program doesn’t run the same risk of injury. So Jones really has no good reason to hold out from this period. Nevertheless, it’s very good news that Jones, a defensive leader on the team, is present during this time.
