The latest
Mellinger Minutes: Chiefs, Royals, LDT analysis | The Kansas City Star
The NFL is making a brain-dead, out-of-touch, wet blanket, self-important, counterproductive, off-putting, and indefensible decision in not letting Chiefs right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif add "M.D." to the back of his jersey after earning a medical degree from McGill University in Montreal.The NFL is refusing to explain its position on this, which only makes sense if the league can't come up with a reason that doesn't make it look small and anti-player.
Sammy Watkins earning rave reviews as Chiefs challenge him by moving him all around | CBS Sports
Sammy Watkins: Andy Reid is making me a better player | ESPN
“We’re moving him all over the place, and he’s handled it,” coach Andy Reid said. “We’ve overloaded him with that. That’s how we do it in this offense. That’s something new for him. You can tell he’s a guy that takes it away from here and studies. When we’re doing all these different formations, you’ve got to do that. You just can’t get it all when you’re here. You’ve got to go back and you’ve got to review, and he’s done that and he’s really limited the mistakes for all we’ve given him.”
“It’s a very behind-the-scenes job,” Reynolds explained of handling all of the travel. “If you’re going to book travel for yourself, you’re really 10 mouse clicks away from having your entire trip booked—the airplane ticket, the hotel, and a rental car—it’s all done. But to do it for 175 people, it takes months of hotel contracts and airline contracts, rooming lists, going through floor layouts and meeting room setups, and everything else along those lines that goes with it.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it and if you do a job good job, nobody notices. No news is good news. The only time my phone rings on the road is if something goes wrong.”
NFL continues to turn to political realm for P.R. help | ProFootballTalk
Making Moore’s job even harder will be the NFL’s affinity for unforced errors, including most recently the widely-criticized decision not to let Laurent Duvernay-Tardif affix “M.D.” to his jersey and the if-it-ain’t-fixed-break-it anthem policy. If Moore’s fingerprints appear on either of those blunder, it may not be all that long before yet another former political operative is operating as the NFL’s executive V.P. of communications and public affairs.
Time to relax? Not for Montreal’s Laurent Duvernay-Tardif | Montreal Gazette
Later in the day, GoDaddy Canada announced Duvernay-Tardif has become a spokesman. The company, which sets up domain names and websites, revealed the football player relaxes by making wooden bowls. With some guidance from Joliette-based woodturner Gilbert Besnard, Duvernay-Tardif has been producing bowls, which are available for sale through the GoDaddy-created website tourneurdesbois.ca. The proceeds from the sale of the bowls go to Duvernay-Tardif’s foundation.
NFL players trade helmets for caps and gowns in offseason | Washington Post
The most high-profile case this offseason was Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who became the first active NFL player to get his medical degree when he earned his from McGill University in Montreal just over a year after signing a $41.25 million, five-year contract.
Tarik Cohen: Nagy has me lining up at ‘every position’ | NFL.com
When the Bears hired former Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to fill their head coaching vacancy, second-year scat back Tarik Cohen immediately began to envision himself in the role of Chiefs multi-purpose All Pro Tyreek Hill.
While Nagy has acknowledged the similarities between the two pint-sized playmakers, it’s unclear to what extent Cohen will be featured in Chicago’s offense this season.
If offseason practices are any indication, Nagy shares mentor Andy Reid’s penchant for exploiting mismatches through alignment.
In a Monday interview with the Jim Rome Show, Cohen revealed that Nagy already has him moving around the gridiron as a pre-snap chess piece.
Around the league
Police investigating body at Janoris Jenkins’ home | NFL.com
The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Roosevelt Rene, a family friend of Jenkins, The Associated Press reported. Police are investigating the death as a possible strangulation/suffocation incident, Garafolo reported. No suspects have been named by authorities in the ongoing investigation.
The Redskins closed the book on the Kirk Cousins era when they traded a third-round pick and promising cornerback Kendall Fuller to Kansas City for Alex Smith. Coach Jay Gruden said “without a doubt” the Redskins got better at quarterback, and tight end Vernon Davis has raved about the impact his former 49ers teammate will have.
Tony Romo calls Green Bay Packers ‘the team to beat’ | NFL.com
“I think the Packers probably got better more than any team I saw this offseason,” Romo said, via WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee. “It’s early and injuries happen, but right now, they’re right at the top for me as far as a team you wouldn’t want to see in the playoffs.”
How The NFL’s New Helmet Rule Could Change Football As We Know It | Deadspin
With this rule, the NFL is attempting to avoid the over-legislated confusion it created with all the additions made through the years to the catch rule, which never could keep up with the infinite potential movements of the human body. By drawing the helmet rule so narrowly, the NFL is trying to discourage the sort of plays like the one that injured Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier last year. But depending on how strictly it’s enforced, it might also prohibit any number of prosaic football maneuvers, too.
In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride
Is Tamba Hali teasing an NFL return?
I doubt the Chiefs would be interested in Hali returning as a player at this stage of his career given the sudden depth and youth movement they have built at the outside linebacker position. Justin Houston and Dee Ford will be healthy for the beginning of training camp, and the Chiefs are grooming Tanoh Kpassagnon and rookie second-rounder Breeland Speaks behind them. Veteran Frank Zombo rounds out the room.
ESPN predicts target share for Chiefs wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins
While I think Clay has a point—Hill’s target share may go down—I’m not sure about his logic that defines a top-10 wide receiver as deserving of the fourth tier regardless of who has joined him this offseason. Other fourth-tier situations included the Cleveland Browns’ Jarvis Landry and Josh Gordon and the Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
Patrick Mahomes currently has better NFL MVP odds than Alex Smith
Aaron Rodgers sits as the league’s favorite.