Chiefs Begin OTAs on Tuesday from Chiefs.com
During these OTA practices, there's no contact permitted and the players will still be in shorts, but they can do seven-on-seven, nine-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills.
Coach Andy Reid will speak with the media after practice on Tuesday.
Clark and Tavia Hunt Serve As Honorary Chairs for 2016 JDRF Dream Gala from Chiefs.com
Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and his wife, Tavia, served as honorary chairs for the JDRF Dream Gala this past Saturday night. The event, which features silent and live auctions, is designed to raise funds for Type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.
"Tavia and I are honored to be this year's Dream Gala honorary chairs," Clark said at the event. "For 40 years, JDRF has been the leading funder of Type 1 diabetes research in the world, and we are proud to do our part to help find a cure."
NFL tried to strong-arm brain injury study, lawmaker's report says from The Associated Press via The Kansas City Star
National Football League officials improperly sought to influence a government study on the link between football and brain disease, according to a senior House Democrat in a report issued Monday.
New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone says the league tried to strong-arm the National Institutes of Health into taking the project away from a researcher that the NFL feared was biased.
The NFL had agreed to donate $30 million to the NIH to fund brain research but backed out after the institutes refused to take a $16 million grant away from prominent Boston University researcher Robert Stern. He's a leading expert on the link between football and brain diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Taxpayers are instead bearing the cost.
The NFL denied Pallone's finding.
Congressional report says NFL waged improper campaign to influence government study from ESPN
"Once you get anybody who's heavily involved with the NFL trying to influence what kind of research takes place, you break that chain that guarantees the integrity, and that's what I think is so crucial here," Pallone said. "Fortunately, the NIH didn't take the bait. It shouldn't be a rigged game. If it is, then people won't really know whether what we're finding through this research is accurate."
The NFL has repeatedly denied that it withheld funding because of objections to Stern, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery and the director of clinical research at Boston University's CTE Center. But in emails and phone calls documented by congressional investigators, league officials said they believed Stern was biased and his selection marred by a conflict of interest because a grant reviewer had previously appeared on a scientific paper with one of Stern's colleagues. The NIH ruled that the allegations were unfounded.
N.F.L. Tried to Influence Concussion Research, Congressional Study Finds from The New York Times
It is the latest in a long history of instances in which the N.F.L. has been found to mismanage concussion research, dating to the league's first exploration of the crisis when it used deeply flawed data to produce a series of studies.
In this case, some of the characters are the same, including Dr. Elliot Pellman, who led the league's concussion committee for years before he was discredited for his questionable credentials and his role as a longtime denier of the effects of concussions on players.
Others are more recent members of the league's concussion committee, like Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the league's committee on brain injuries.
The Most Damning Excerpts From The Congressional Report On The NFL's Improper Meddling With Concussion Research from Deadspin
The NFL's interactions with NIH and approach to funding the BU study fit a longstanding pattern of attempts to influence the scientific understanding of the consequences of repeated head trauma. These efforts date back to the formation of the NFL's now-discredited MTBI Committee, which attempted to control the scientific narrative around concussions in the 1990s.
In this instance, our investigation has shown that while the NFL had been publicly proclaiming its role as funder and accelerator of important research, it was privately attempting to influence that research. The NFL attempted to use its "unrestricted gift" as leverage to steer funding away from one of its critics. The League, its players, and the public have a vested interest in advancing our knowledge of the relationship between degenerative diseases and sports-related head trauma.
Five things to watch as the Chiefs begin offseason practices from The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs will hold the first of 10 voluntary practices on Tuesday to kick off the beginning of organized team activities, or OTAs. Those 10 practices — which will be held May 24-26, May 31-June 2 and June 7-10 — will be followed by a three-day mandatory minicamp, which will take place June 14-16.
Players are not allowed to wear pads during any of these practices, just shorts, jerseys and helmets. They will participate in individual and team drills, with the offense squaring off against the defense in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 situations.
Here are five things to keep an eye on as the Chiefs, who went 11-5 last season and won a playoff game for the first time in 22 years, begin preparing for the 2016 season:
Chiefs return to practice field Tuesday for start of OTAs from Chiefs Digest
Identifying Alex Smith's primary backup is a priority before the start of the regular season and the table is set for a three-way battle between Aaron Murray, Tyler Bray and fifth-round pick Kevin Hogan.
How the Chiefs line up with the second unit remains to be seen, but Murray, who enters his third season in the system, has to be considered an early favorite.
Still, don't count out Bray, whom the Chiefs are high on as evidenced by a two-year extension last year despite Bray never playing a regular-season snap.
Hogan, who played in a pro-style offense at Stanford, needs time to adjust to the team's version of the West Coast offense.
Chiefs begin practice looking at offensive line combos, cornerback battles from ESPN
The Chiefs, after letting veteran starter Sean Smith leave via free agency, are going young at cornerback. Marcus Peters, a rookie last year, is their only established corner. Phillip Gaines looked like he was on his way to establishing himself last year before he tore his ACL early in the season. He may not practice during the offseason as his rehab continues. Whether he does or not, the Chiefs will have a lot of corner snaps available for their younger cornerbacks, a group that includes draft picks KeiVarae Russell, Eric Murrayand D.J. White. Those players were impressive during the recent rookie camp but the challenge increases now that the veteran quarterbacks and receivers are practicing.
Players with most to prove for all 32 NFL teams from ESPN
Kansas City Chiefs
Running back Jamaal Charles
The veteran is coming off the second torn ACL of his NFL career and will turn 30 in December. That's a lot stacked against a running back, even one with skills as elite as Charles'. The Chiefs proved last season they could thrive with backups Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware playing in Charles' absence. That cast doubt on his value to the Chiefs. -- Adam Teicher
Chargers play Chiefs' rallying cry at practice to prepare for opener at KC from ESPN
But is it too early to start thinking about the Chiefs?
"We're going to Kansas City Week 1 and it's going to be loud, so you might as well start to get ready for it now," said cornerback Brandon Flowers, who played his first six seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs. "When I heard it, that's what I've been knowing for years and years. But it's great that we're starting it now, getting the offensive guys that haven't played in Kansas City used to it now."
Gregorian Chants: Poll is a misleading way to view name of Washington's NFL team from The Kansas City Star
In general, I believe the Chiefs to be an entirely different matter, starting with a difference in what the name conveys and efforts they have made to engage American Indians.
But I find it hard to get this out of my mind, something that undeniably is connected to the name: When a handful of American Indians were protesting at the Chiefs-Texans playoff game last year in Houston, several sets of Chiefs fans went out of their way to verbally joust with them. And one man in a Chiefs jersey, with his young child alongside, made it a point to extend a tomahawk chop their way.
Seahawks, Steelers, Panthers headline 10 most talented teams from NFL.com
6) Kansas City Chiefs
Blue chips: Alex Smith, QB; Jamaal Charles, RB; Jeremy Maclin, WR; Travis Kelce, TE; Dontari Poe, NT; Justin Houston, OLB; Derrick Johnson, LB; Marcus Peters, CB; Eric Berry, S.
Risers: Spencer Ware, RB; Charcandrick West, RB; Dee Ford, OLB.
The Chiefs' workmanlike approach lacks sizzle, but substantive results have been outstanding since Andy Reid and John Dorsey took over in 2013. The team has made the playoffs twice in three seasons and compiled a 31-17 regular-season record. The defense remains the calling card in Kansas City, thanks to the stellar play of Houston, Johnson and Berry. The Chiefs' "Big 3" are all exceptional playmakers in the prime of their respective careers. (Though Houston's status for the upcoming season remains uncertain after February knee surgery.) Peters earned rave reviews and the 2015 Defensive Rookie of the Year award for his spectacular play as a first-year starter. He could blossom into the NFL's next true shutdown corner as a sophomore. Smith doesn't get enough credit for his work as a savvy game manager, but the presence of Charles, Maclin and Kelce ensures his success as the Chiefs' franchise quarterback.