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OTA rules could make one thing difficult for Kansas City Chiefs cornerbacks

The Chiefs cornerbacks are taught to be physical with receivers. This is a problem when dealing with OTA rules that prevent live contact.

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At the Kansas City Chiefs rookie minicamp last weekend, a few people pointed out this quote from Chiefs sixth round pick G Zach Fulton (via KC Star): "It is pretty physical, despite popular belief. It does get pretty physical down in the trenches."

There is no "live contact" permitted in OTAs so there should be no one saying it's "pretty physical". But every team every year bends the rules with OTAs and hardly ever does the league do anything about it. It seems to come up every year after an injury during OTAs, like the Dallas Cowboys losing LB Sean Lee in a play that suspiciously looked like live contact.

In phase three of the offseason program, which the Chiefs find themselves in, there are 11-on-11 drills permitted so you'd think the receivers and cornerbacks could get some quality work in. But there is still no live contact. That seems like a problem for the Chiefs cornerbacks, who need their hands on the receiver to work on their press-man coverage technique.

Reading this article from Pat Kirwan on the rules during OTAs made me think of this dynamic.

As Dave Wannstedt pointed out, "What about teams that want to teach press coverage to their corners? If you can't put your hands on a receiver are you teaching press coverage?"

Of course you aren't teaching press coverage within the rules of OTAs.

Obviously teams teach that technique during the offseason anyway. If teaching press coverage is indeed a violation of OTA rules, maybe this is more of a situation where they might be breaking the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law.

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