Rookies and selected veterans made their way to Kansas City over the weekend to participate in the Chiefs mini camp. But the players weren’t the only rookies. First-year head coach Herm Edwards was also making his debut with the team. One noticeable difference between Edwards and former head coach, Dick Vermeil, was the length of practice. Vermeil was notorious for long practices, even in min camp, sometimes lasting as long as two-and-a-half hours. The non-contact drills in 2006 were much shorter in length.
The pace for the practices over the weekend was much slower than it will be once the real practices begin later this year. Edwards said that he wanted to get a feel for what the players look like physically and not bog them down with plays, in hopes of getting them slowly acclimated to his system.
Another difference came in the form of Edwards’ physical involvement in practice. He was more than happy to jump in and demonstrate what he wanted done, while Vermeil often handled his instructions outside the action.
The only draft pick who didn’t attend this past weekend was safety Jarrad Page, whose classes at UCLA don’t end until June. He was taken in the seventh round.
The Chiefs will have more practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, then open up a min-camp for all players on Friday. All players except for Priest Holmes, who is injured and still deciding whether or not he’ll play or retire, are expected to attend.
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