The Kansas City Chiefs took the field for the second day of their early portion of training camp, which includes rookies, quarterbacks and select injured players. There was one addition to Tuesday's practice: LT Eric Fisher.
The Chiefs No. 1 pick was not present on Monday but did arrive on Tuesday. Since Fisher was injured over the offseason, he's eligible to participate in this early portion. The veterans will arrive on Wednesday for the official start of camp on Thursday.
More: Photos from Chiefs camp | Day 1 practice report
Fisher appeared to be moving around fine during individual drills. I didn't notice anything major with his shoulder, which he had surgery on after last season. The Chiefs did some team drills, which Fisher participated in. He did not participate in team drills during the offseason program, so this is a step forward for him. He said left tackle is his "home" position and it feels more "natural" to him.
Also interesting is that Fisher told us he weighs about 315 pounds now. He says he feels he didn't lose any strength either. This was a concern to me because Fisher had shoulder surgery, which means he was limited in his lifting. Apparently, that's not as big of a concern as I thought. Getting stronger and bigger was one of the top priorities for Fisher.
There were a few changes to the attendance list from Monday. David Van Dyke and Joe McKnight, who were placed on the PUP list on Monday, were both in attendance but not practicing. LB DeRon Furr was a no-show (Update: Furr bad a back injury) while FB James Baker remained out for what a Chiefs spokesperson called "personal reasons" on Monday.
The Chiefs did a few more team drills on Tuesday than they did on Monday but without the full squad there aren't any major takeaways from practice.
Practice observations
De'Anthony Thomas continues to do the bulk of his individual drills with the running backs.
John Dorsey wore his usual grey Chiefs sweatshirt with khaki shorts.
Chiefs running backs coach Eric Bieniemy is vocal. He'll be a fun one to listen to if you're attending camp.
With Fisher now in attendance, the Chiefs had four offensive linemen. Fisher lined up at left tackle, Laurent Duvernary-Tardif at left guard, Ben Gottschalk at center and Zach Fulton at right guard. During one team drill, the Chiefs simply had no right tackle. Made those blitz pick-ups pretty hard!
Travis Kelce had an excellent jumping catch in the end zone during red zone work.
Ben Gottschalk had a bad snap over Chase Daniel's head. On the next play, Daniel flubbed a handoff (or play-action?) to the running back.
Jerrell Jackson showed some nice hands to pull down a pass with Phillip Gaines in coverage. Jackson later had a nice jump ball catch in red zone work.
Gaines responded later with a nice pass break-up. He seems to be having a better start to camp than early on in the offseason workouts.
Frankie Hammond Jr. said that as a receiver he has to know every receiver position on the field. Considering some of his college play calls were just one word, this West Coast Offense is a learning curve. Hammond has been one of the top players these first two days.
Demetrius Harris continues to make acrobatic catches. Along with the good comes some bad. Harris also dropped some, including one in the red zone with a jump ball battle he needs to win.
Tip drill: Chris Owens tipped a pass across the middle and the ball went into the air. WR Deon Anthony picked up the tip.
Aaron Murray had some nice throws but he was also "sacked" in 7-on-7, which is hard to do.
Dee Ford is as excited about Tamba Hali and Justin Houston getting here as the rest of us.
Team drills
This is 11-on-11 -- so something closer to real football.
Alex Smith and Kyle Williams had a miscommunication with Smith throwing the ball short while Williams went long. Smith also overthrew Fred Williams on one sideline pass. Don't worry though - he looked sharp on other drills.
Chase Daniel had a nice pass to Albert Wilson down the left side of the field. De'Anthony Thomas was also the recipient of a pass in the flats from Daniel. Later, while under pressure, Daniel one-hopped a pass to the receiver.
Tyler Bray over threw Albert Wilson during team drills. He still seems to be working on his touch. He completed a nice pass to AJ Jenkins during team work.
Aaron Murray is the fourth quarterback up during team drills and only gets a couple of pass attempts. But he got some extra work in after practice. He was the last one off the field (shortly after Bray).
Here is who attended today's camp:
Quarterbacks: Alex Smith, Chase Daniel, Tyler Bray, Aaron Murray
Running backs: Jordan Campbell, De'Anthony Thomas, Charcandrick West, Joe McKnight*
Receivers: Deon Anthony, Weston Dressler, Frankie Hammond Jr., Mark Harrison, Jerrell Jackson, AJ Jenkins, Darryl Surgent, Fred Williams, Kyle Williams, Albert Wilson
Tight ends: Demetrius Harris, Travis Kelce
Offensive line: Eric Fisher, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Zach Fulton, Ben Gottschalk
Defensive line: Dominique Hamilton, Kona Schwenke
Linebackers: Dee Ford, Alonzo Highsmith, Ben Johnson
Defensive backs: Malcolm Bronson, Phillip Gaines, Brandon Jones, Vernon Kearney, Chris Owens, Daniel Sorensen, David Van Dyke*
Kickers: Cairo Santos
*Present but did not participate.
Bye Alex