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The Kansas City Chiefs have been working out since April in the first two phases of the offseason but things ramp up in the third phase when they can go 11 on 11. That's the key difference as the Chiefs begin a series of 10 OTAs until mid June.
It's still not real football but it's another step closer. You can't hit each other so the linemen might have the toughest time getting something useful out of this. For Alex Smith and Jeremy Maclin though, you can actually get some work in the passing game done now that the team is on the field.
"There is always that element of the first day, we've got the helmets back on and back going and first time in however many months that you can do 11-on-11 and one-on-one's and all of that, so I thought it was really good work," Smith said Tuesday, via quotes from the Chiefs.
"Things change a little bit when defenders are out there, a 12-yard route might get cut down to 10 depending on the coverage looks you're getting," Maclin said on Tuesday. "In a perfect world you'd like to run straight every time and make your break, but that doesn't happen when there are defenses out there, so I think this is good for us."
Maclin and Smith have watched film on each other but hope to develop more chemistry this summer.
"When you're talking about me and him, I think that's the number one thing," Maclin said of chemistry with Smith. "What we're looking forward to doing, I don't think you can judge it by completed balls, I think it's all about getting to know each other and getting our timing down. I think we've gotten off to a pretty good start doing that."
The chemistry between Smith and Maclin is something we're going to talk about all offseason yet we won't really know where they stand until the Chiefs line up against the Texans in Week 1.