NEW ORLEANS — Under a mostly sunny sky at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, the Kansas City Chiefs went through a nearly 90-minute practice session Wednesday afternoon ahead of their matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles for Super Bowl LIX.
It was a light but spirited session for the Chiefs, who had perfect practice attendance. The starting offense and defense each ran 30 plays against the scout team units, with 10-minute special teams segments mixed in.
The quarterbacks, specialists and linebacker Nick Bolton — who wears the “green dot” to communicate play calls to the defense — were the only players wearing helmets Wednesday. The rest of the Chiefs practiced without pads or helmets. Coach Andy Reid likened the practice to a normal Wednesday session during the regular season.
The focus for Wednesday’s practice was “assignments,” Reid said, with the intention being to ramp up practice as the week progresses.
“It’s just getting one more rep at it, make sure you’ve got all the bases covered,” Reid said. “You kind of start from scratch when you get out here and go back through everything. And if you’ve got little tweaks, you’ve got to make here or there, or additions, you get them done.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was sharp, with only four of his pass attempts during full team periods hitting the ground — two of which were dropped. Tight end Payton Hendershot made the most impressive catch of the session with a leaping, twisting grab over the middle of the field.
But the most notable play of the day may have belonged to punter Matt Araiza, who kicked what appeared to be an 80-yard punt with the wind at his back. The kick caught some of his teammates off guard, with quarterbacks and receivers scrambling to get out of the way as they were working drills at the far end of the field.
Wide receiver Skyy Moore (abdomen) was the only Kansas City player limited in practice on Wednesday. Mahommes (ankle) and offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee) was full participants.
Reid admired the practice setup on Tulane’s campus in Uptown New Orleans. Yulman Stadium features a natural grass turf, which Reid said had some cushion that he appreciated.
“They did a phenomenal job with this,” Reid said. “We appreciate that. And the people here at Tulane have been great, they rolled out the red carpets for us. It’s a good facility, all good there.”
An eclectic mix of music played as the team practiced. The first song on the practice playlist was “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, who will perform during the halftime break Sunday. That was immediately followed by “Wipe Me Down” by Louisiana rappers Foxx, Webbie and Lil Boosie.
–Field Level Media, special from Pro Football Writers of America
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