Chiefs Inform Quarterbacks and Rookies to Report to Training Camp Monday
According to a tweet from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Kansas City Chiefs have told players to report for training camp Monday for COVID-19 testing.
The Chiefs were the first team to notify their players of the situation. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Chiefs' Week 1 opponent, the Houston Texans, have also done the same.
It was expected that these two teams would get a head start ahead of the rest of the league, though the actual beginning of training camp is largely up in the air as the NFL and NFLPA discuss concerns based on the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer broke down quirk in the original schedule in his Monday Afternoon Quarterback column on June 29.
With the NFL football ops tweeting out July 28 as the start date for training camp, it’s worth noting that the Chiefs and Texans open earlier—the rule under the new CBA is teams can start 47 days before their opener. Since Houston and Kansas City are playing in the kickoff game, both will start camp on July 25. The Texans are welcoming in their rookies on July 18, and have the quarterbacks coming in on July 20. Chiefs QBs and rookies report on the 22nd.
Because of the pandemic, Chiefs training camp was already going to look different. Arrowhead Report's Joshua Brisco explained how the camp would look during the pandemic.
However, even if this part of the preseason does go according to schedule, it will look very different than Chiefs training camps of years past.
After a decade in St. Joseph, Missouri at Missouri Western State University, the Chiefs will spend this year's camp at their team facilities at Arrowhead, in accordance with a league-wide mandate for all teams, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chiefs released a statement after the league forced all teams to remain at their home cities saying they will be going back to St. Joseph next offseason.
"When the NFL announced a new policy requiring all training camps to be held at team facilities, we looked at every avenue to return to Missouri Western State University, including making a detailed appeal to the League. We were looking forward to returning to St. Joseph as we prepare to defend our Super Bowl title, but unfortunately, as conditions have evolved nationally, we have decided that our best option is to conduct training camp at The University of Kansas Health System Training Complex this season. We appreciate the overwhelming support of Chiefs Kingdom and the St. Joseph community and look forward to returning to Missouri Western State University in preparation for the 2021 season."
To read Joshua Brisco's full story on training camp dates, click here.
