Aug. 17—The Kansas City Chiefs began the task of trimming their 90-man roster down to 53 players before their season opener by cutting it down to 85 on Tuesday.
The NFL’s new gradual roster cuts this offseason feature cuts coming every Tuesday following preseason games.
The Chiefs took care of business before Tuesday’s training camp practice by releasing wide receivers Antonio Callaway and Chad Williams, as well as tight end Evan Baylis and defensive back Manny Peterson.
Running back Elijah McGuire was placed on injured reserve.
“It’s hard,” Chiefs assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Dave Toub said. “Sometimes you lose guys that you want to keep, but you go in, you make your arguments for guys and they have to be solid offensive or defensive players first obviously. Then it’s our job to turn those guys down the line into really good special teams players and that’s the way it works.”
In their second to last camp practice, the Chiefs returned to pads for the first time since their preseason win over San Francisco last Saturday.
The offensive line group has fulfilled expectations, in part due to players being able to play multiple positions Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck said.
“It gives us an opportunity to evaluate guys. Look, if they’re not a starter, they’re going to have to be able to do multiple jobs like play guard and tackle, center and guard. Then, the other thing is it gives them an opportunity to show their best,” Heck said.
Defensive end Frank Clark exited practice early with a hamstring injury which caused him to miss the Chiefs’ first preseason game.
According to reports, he will undergo an MRI, but should recover before the season opener versus the Cleveland Browns.
“He’s been dealing with some injury issues right now in and out of the practice,” said Chiefs defensive line coach Brendan Daly. “We just got to get him back out there and get him reps and consistently rolling. He’s done a great job — and I would say there’s another guy from a mental standpoint, he’s grown. He’s got a much better understanding of the scheme in Year 3, relative to where it was when we first got him. That’s been really good in terms of that evolution.”
The Chiefs have their final training camp practice on Wednesday before heading to Arizona for their second preseason game on Friday.
The final round of cuts will be the largest, going from 80 players down to 53 on Tuesday, August 31.
Micaela Dea can be reached at micaela.dea@newspressnow.com.
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