When Does Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp Begin? KC Gets an Early Start
A date is set for the beginning of NFL training camps, but as most of the NFL plans to start on July 28, the Kansas City Chiefs will be preparing to start on July 22 and 25.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer explained this scheduling quirk and why the Chiefs and Houston Texans will be ahead of the curve at the end of July:
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.
So, as plans currently stand — global pandemic notwithstanding — the Chiefs will begin their full-team training camp on July 25, with quarterbacks and rookies reporting on July 22.
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 have confirmed that they'll be staying home for camp this year, though the statement they released on June 24 made it clear that they made "a detailed appeal to the league" to return to St. Joe:
"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."
For Breer's full Monday Afternoon Quarterback column, click here.
