Hitchens returns to Chiefs OTAs, but Watkins and Damien Williams step out

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens returned to practice during Thursday’s OTA (organized team activities) session at the Chiefs training facility, according to a report from Kansas City Star Chiefs beat reporter Brooke Pryor.

Thursday’s OTA session is open to the media, so reporters are taking note of which players are (or are not) participating in the voluntary sessions.

As you’ll recall, Hitchens was among those absent last from last Thursday’s OTA session — the most recent one open to the media — because he and his wife Ashley had just had a baby. Pryor’s tweet helpfully provides their new daughter’s name: Ava.

Along with Hitchens, offensive lineman Cameron Erving, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones were among the players who didn’t take part in last Thursday’s sesson. Erving and Kelce were both still recovering from offseason surgeries; Jones is skipping OTAs while his contract is being renegotiated. It is presumed all three will also miss this week’s Thursday session.

But according to Pryor, you can add two more Chiefs veterans to list of those not participating on Thursday: wide receiver Sammy Watkins and running back Damien Williams.

Pryor reports that both Williams and Watkins are said to be out for personal reasons. During offseason workouts, this can literally mean anything — important or unimportant, good or bad. More often than not, we don’t find out why players missed time — but sometimes we do.

On Tuesday, new Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles (formerly with the Philadelphia Eagles — and, of course, the Chiefs) was reported to have missed their Tuesday OTA session for personal reasons. On Wednesday, we learned that Foles’ wife Tori had suffered a miscarriage over the weekend; Foles chose to stay home with her for a few days. Foles is reported to have returned to Jaguars OTAs on Thursday — and we wish their family the best.