The Kansas City Chiefs begin their three-day rookie minicamp on Saturday, May 6 and wrap up on Monday, May 8.
Players have been assigned jersey numbers, fitted for equipment and are ready to rumble. Rookie minicamp will provide the team with a first look at their 2022 NFL draft class and a chance to work out a group of undrafted free agents as well.
So what will rookies be doing at rookie minicamp? Players are allowed to wear helmets, but no pads during the on-field portion of minicamp. Andy Reid described what a typical day of rookie minicamp practice looks like back in 2018.
“This format is exactly like it will be for the vets when they come in for their minicamp,” Reid said. “They got here early, we had meetings this morning. Now they come out they do their walkthrough. They’ll go back for lunch. Then they’ll come out for a special teams practice, the specialists will come out. Then we’ll start our practice. There will be a special teams period within the practice, just like you guys normally see during the year. It will be an afternoon practice, will last a couple of hours and then they’re out of here. They leave the field, go into meetings again and then they go sleep.”
Things will look a little better in terms of the walkthrough and special teams period this season. Last year the Chiefs only had six draft picks, eight undrafted free agents and five tryout players, with smaller numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year they’ll have a lot more players on-hand, including 10 draft picks and 10 undrafted free agent signings, plus over a dozen tryout players. They’ll actually be able to field enough players to do a proper walkthrough at practice.
The Chiefs will also be able to have some veteran players out there, such as those returning from injury like Jody Fortson, Lucas Niang and Rashad Fenton. That is so long as they’re far enough in their recovery to participate or work off with trainers on the side of practice.
Reserve/future signing Brandin Dandridge will also be out there for rookie minicamp as he’s never been through an NFL camp before. He’ll be wearing jersey No. 34.