5 takeaways from Day 3 of Chiefs training camp

The Kansas City Chiefs were back in action with another training camp practice session on Friday.

It was another hot day out in St. Joseph, Missouri with the heat index touching 100 degrees. The team continued working in spiders and helmets, during their five-day contact integration period ahead of their first padded practice. While the pads haven’t come on yet, there’s still plenty to take away from the latest practice session.

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

The defense wins the day

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Training camp is not a contest, but if it was a contest, the Chiefs' defenders would have come away with the prize on Friday. The first-team offense struggled at times, yielding a turnover and multiple PBUs to the defense. It seems like early on in practice, Patrick Mahomes and many of his receivers just weren't on the same page. Eventually, they began executing at a higher level. Credit to the defense, who seemed to be up to the task of slowing down Mahomes and the offense on Friday. This type of day certainly shouldn't concern fans, though. This is what training camp is for — working out the kinks ahead of the regular season. https://twitter.com/ByNateTaylor/status/1421128516440047617 https://twitter.com/ChiefinCarolina/status/1421130347002093569 https://twitter.com/aaronladd0/status/1421128357853286405 https://twitter.com/aaronladd0/status/1421136333213290497 https://twitter.com/HerbieTeope/status/1421124319300751366 https://twitter.com/Jacobs71/status/1421120610479099908 https://twitter.com/HerbieTeope/status/1421135233907183628

Lucas Niang gets limited work as starting right tackle

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Second-year OT Lucas Niang saw some very brief action working with the first-team offensive line at right tackle on Friday. He replaced Mike Remmers for a few snaps at right tackle before rejoining the second-team unit. Niang had been playing left tackle with the second string so far in training camp but saw some mixed action at both left and right tackle there as well. The Chiefs seem to be gearing Niang up for that swing tackle position. Chiefs OL Coach Andy Heck typically moves players around during training camp, sometimes very briefly, to simulate what it's like on game day when a player has to enter a game off the bench. What he did with Niang today, suggests he might be the first tackle off the bench in the event of an injury next season. https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/1421134123763048448 https://twitter.com/tuckerdfranklin/status/1421121701581033474

Marcus Kemp impressing early in camp

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Fifth-year WR Marcus Kemp has quietly had a hot start to training camp. On Wednesday, he had a big contested catch over CB Chris Lammons (pictured above). He followed it up with some more impressive play on Thursday and began to see more action with the first-team offense on Friday. He caught multiple receptions of over 20 yards from QB Patrick Mahomes. It's worth noting that Kemp is a stud special teams player in addition to his ability as a receiver. The former undrafted free agent out of Hawaii was tracking to make the 53-man roster in 2019 before a torn ACL and MCL ended his season prematurely. https://twitter.com/Jacobs71/status/1421131241538179078 https://twitter.com/ByNateTaylor/status/1421131204418363398

Darwin Thompson losing ground to Jerick McKinnon

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Chiefs' third-year RB Darwin Thompson is falling behind in the training camp battle at his position. Thompson was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list recently and has yet to be activated from it. Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams continue to be the top dogs in the backfield, but free-agent acquisition Jerick McKinnon appears to be making headway in the pecking order. He mixed in with the first-team offense at times on Friday. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes also praised McKinnon as a "playmaker" following Friday's practice. The longer that Thompson remains absent, the more likely he won't make the 53-man roster in Kansas City. https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/1421124495033597957 https://twitter.com/aaronladd0/status/1421131946814361601

Juan Thornhill looking like himself

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Thornhill recently admitted that he was never 100% in his return from his knee injury last season. This year, he's starting things off looking a lot more like his old self. "There were multiple times I could’ve made an interception or knocked the ball down, but I was half a second too late," Thornhill explained. During Friday's practice, Thornhill was right on time, snagging the only interception on the day with a diving pick of a tipped ball during 7-on-7 team drills. The third-year professional continues to trend upward, but teammates Daniel Sorensen and Tyrann Mathieu are still getting the majority of the repetitions with the first-team defense. As a rookie, Sorensen got the majority of starts in training camp before Thornhill earned the job heading into Week 1. https://twitter.com/ByNateTaylor/status/1421130593014849536 https://twitter.com/aaronladd0/status/1421134702195331072

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