The Kansas City Chiefs opened training camp conducting practices without their players in pads. They have been following a strict low-to-no contact guideline throughout their workout sessions to this point, but plan to ramp up their intensity on Friday.
Center Creed Humphrey is among the Chiefs waiting most anxiously to get back to full-pace high-stakes action. He gladly revealed to reporters after practice on Wednesday which of his teammates felt the same way.
Humphrey sparked laughter at the podium, with his comment on guard Trey Smith, in particular.
“He gets to hit people, and he has pads,” Humphrey joked.
Smith earned a reputation for his brutal blocks last season, much to the delight of his teammate Humphrey. The team’s offseason additions, though, were also favored by the decorated center. Players like tackles Wanya Morris, Donovan Smith, and Jawaan Taylor all seemed to have made great first impressions on Humphrey through four days of practices in St. Joseph, Missouri.
“They’ve been great so far,” Humphrey explained. “Everybody has been really eager to learn, everybody has been really eager to grow together, build chemistry together, so it’s been really good. I say this all the time, when you’ve got five guys up front who’ve got the same mindset and everything like that, it’s going to lead to good results. I feel like they did a good job of bringing in guys that have the same mindset as us.”
Humphrey and the rest of the line will do their best to continue playing with an edge and fostering unit cohesion as the Chiefs look to defend their Super Bowl LVII victory in 2023.
