The Chiefs like defensive end Joshua Kaindoh’s work ethic

The beginning of Chiefs rookie minicamp marked the first real time defensive end Joshua Kaindoh has spent in Kansas City. The Baltimore native was taken out of Florida State by the Chiefs in the fourth round of this year’s draft — and Kansas City liked him because at 6’5 and 258 pounds, he profiles as a “prototypical Steve Spagnuolo defensive end.”

The 22-year-old acknowledged that in the college game, being a good athlete can get you by — but at the pro level, beginning now, requires a more nuanced approach.

“I know at lower levels, a lot of it has a lot of athleticism involved,” said Kaindoh on Friday. “Definitely, want to get coached up technique-wise, you know? And it’s a blessing to be here, but we’re trying to find out how to stay here. So hopefully, the guys in front of me, the vets, I can ask them, like, ‘Hey what do you do to make sure your body’s right?’ And make sure you know this and that.”

Kaindoh won’t get to pick the brains of veteran players such as Frank Clark and Taco Charlton until later this month with the start of voluntary OTAs, but after three days with fellow rookies and tryout players from Friday to Sunday, that is what he will be most looking forward to.

He also stated that he hopes to get Spagnuolo’s playbook down while showing coordinator Dave Toub that he is willing to help out on special teams.

“What I’ve come to realize is the standards here are high,” said Kaindoh. “A team of great tradition and a family just like other places. Today I put on that practice jersey, got out on the field — it was a little walkthrough — but definitely a surreal moment just getting out on the field and getting coached up by the coaches here.”

This offseason, the Chiefs lost Tanoh Kpassagnon when he signed with the New Orleans Saints, and defensive end Alex Okafor is still a free agent. The starting defensive end position across from Clark is thus an open competition between Charlton, Mike Danna and Kaindoh — among others.

After seeing him for three days, the Chiefs are optimistic about his potential on the defense.

“We’ll see how it all goes, but you’ve got a great work ethic, I mean tremendous work ethic,” said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid of Kaindoh. “He’s very, very intelligent. He’s long. He’s a big human being, and he’s got long arms. He knows how to use them. He has heavy hands, is what they’d say. Then it’s just a matter of him getting used to the scheme. He’s got a tremendous coach, so he’ll get all the fundamentals down and take it step by step and eventually go use them.”

Kaindoh’s initial goal as a Chief is simple.

“What do I want to show? I just want to show that I can play ball, just like anybody else.”