4 takeaways from Day 2 of Chiefs training camp

The Kansas City Chiefs were back in action on Thursday with a scorching hot practice session in St. Joseph, Missouri.

The team continues to work toward their first padded practice, taking part in a five-day contact integration period to prepare themselves for “real” football. Even though the pads have yet to come on, there’s still plenty that we can take away from the latest practice session for the team.

Here are four things that we’re taking away from the second day of Chiefs’ training camp:

Nick Bolton isn't ready to wear the green dot

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The Chiefs were without veteran LB Anthony Hitchens at practice on Thursday after he tweaked his hamstring on Wednesday. That meant rookie linebacker Nick Bolton moved up the pecking order for snaps, but he didn't take over at the middle linebacker position. Instead, Ben Niemann shifted over to MIKE and Bolton filled in for Niemann at WILL. When Bolton was drafted, Brett Veach envisioned him as a backup for Hitchens at MIKE in addition to working as a WILL. That may be the case in the future, but the early goings of Chiefs training camp show us that he's not yet ready to wear the green dot and call the defense. It's not a huge surprise that Bolton wouldn't know the entire defense by Day 2 of training camp, but it's not encouraging given the other rookies who've impressed and earned starting repetitions right out of the gate. Bolton did take advantage of his increased number of repetitions, though. He made some good plays on the day, including a pass batted at the line of scrimmage against Chad Henne. https://twitter.com/KCChiefs_Matt/status/1420769552330276868 https://twitter.com/mitchholthus/status/1420773817530597377 https://twitter.com/EddieHigh/status/1420769285174140932

Noah Gray fills in for Travis Kelce

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Travis Kelce left practice early, walking up the hill under his own power with a trainer in tow. After practice, the team confirmed that he was dealing with back and hip tightness. Better safe than sorry, with a star player like Kelce when you're still in July. Noah Gray stepped up in Kelce's place during practice, making several standout plays and earning high praise from those in attendance. Gray has been working with the first-team offense often and seems to have already earned the trust of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. https://twitter.com/ByNateTaylor/status/1420764704176148486 https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/1420762080085348361

Creed Humphrey struggles on Day 2

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Creed Humphrey had a rare bad day snapping the football, with three botched snaps between he and Patrick Mahomes. A few fumbled snaps and then a high snap made for a few broken plays for the offense during the team period. This is to be expected from a rookie to some extent and it's good to get these hiccups out of the way early on. The key is for Humphrey to bounce back, put those issues behind him and ensure that they don't become a trend moving forward into training camp. https://twitter.com/Ron_Kopp/status/1420768044876447751 https://twitter.com/SamMcDowell11/status/1420767642890162184

Antonio Callaway earning run with first team in 7-on-7

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Chiefs GM Brett Veach spoke about WR Antonio Callaway like a future contributor rather than a training camp body back in April. It'd seem that sentiment is holding true with training camp underway. As the Chiefs look to strengthen their wide receiver group in the absence of Sammy Watkins, Callaway has earned some opportunities with the first-team offense during team drills. He seems to have some budding chemistry going with Patrick Mahomes too. https://twitter.com/Ron_Kopp/status/1420764152793030661 https://twitter.com/ChiefsCore/status/1420764341742280706

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