A to Z Sports

Chiefs training camp observations Day 10: Rookie WR Xavier Worthy is learning, not struggling

By Charles Goldman,

2024-08-01

It was a hot and sunny practice at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, but not nearly as scorching as the day prior.

Curtis Jacobs continued to be the first player on the field, followed by the likes of newcomer Owen Carney and several DBs. This practice session seemed to be better than the day prior, as the team stacked back-to-back practices after a day off on Tuesday.

Friday will cap off this week before a quick break on Saturday. The team will return to practice for four straight days from Sunday to Wednesday before a two-day break ahead of preseason Week 1.

What exactly did we learn today at Chiefs training camp today? Let's dive in.

No, Xavier Worthy is not struggling at Chiefs training camp

After a press coverage repetition saw Worthy pinballed between defenders during practice on Thursday, Worthy followed it up with perhaps his best practice since the first day of open practices . During other recent sessions, he's been targeted by Patrick Mahomes in the deep passing game, but he hadn't quite been able to form a consistent connection.

During 11-on-11 team drills on Thursday, Mahomes looked to Worthy as his outlet on a zero blitz from the defense. He was matched up against veteran S Bryan Cook, who he was able to shake with a really nice corner post route to score a touchdown. The head fake caught Cook flatfooted and gave Worthy leverage inside.

"I mean, it's speed," Cook said of the play. "Obviously, the speed. We were in zero coverage, so with some things like that, we can work on different techniques, different things that can work and what can't work. So this was a day where I tried one thing and got beat. So, you go back to the drawing board and see what you can do next."

Just as Cook implied, it's all about learning right now and ironing out the kinks ahead of the 2024 NFL season. The moment that Worthy had during practice on Wednesday, wasn't just a play that he can learn from in terms of a coaching point, but it was also a learning experience for the coaching staff on better putting him in a position to succeed, too.

"Yeah, it's a good mix for both of us to be able to make sure that he has to understand at this level teams tried to do everything they can to knock you off your timing," Chiefs OC Matt Nagy explained. "Timing is so critical and important, that we as coaches, I think that's some of the fun part is for us to be able to find creative ways for guys, whoever it is, to be able to get free releases, and especially a guy like (Xavier Worthy) that has all that speed. So it'll be critical making sure that there's a balance between both of us."

The key for Nagy with Worthy has been to see steady progress. Remember, this is a player who missed virtually all of Phase III of the offseason program and missed the earliest portion of training camp with an illness .

"He's done great," Nagy said of Worthy. "He's really, every day just grown a little bit, I think it's important for myself to make sure that he understands that this is not going to be a race to the finish line in a week or two. Like this is something that's going to happen over time. I've used some experiences that I've been in before with younger players that I've been able to be with for several years and been using that as examples to him of, 'Hey, listen, in time, be patient, don't get frustrated, it's going to be good for you in the end, as long as you can step back and see the big picture.' His attitude has been phenomenal. We knew the person and the kid was great. You know, he's got a great attitude. So just putting it all together now and you know, taking it and running with it."

And Worthy is putting some things together as time goes on. Just in the two days I've been at training camp, that learning has been apparent. His ability to challenge the defense, along with the rest of the wide receiver room, is the epitome of iron sharpening iron.

"Oh, yeah, it's great," Cook said of working against the WR room. "4.3, 4.2, 4.3, you know what I'm saying? It's a lot of work on our back end, but every day we keep grinding and we're going to get a chance to compete with them at the highest level. Obviously, with 1-5 (Patrick Mahomes) throwing the pill back there, the way that he is. Every day it's a competition and every day we look forward to it."

The Chiefs' injury report for Thursday:

Chu Godrick (ankle) and McKade Mettauer (ankle) returned to the practice field after exiting early on Wednesday. Godrick worked sparingly.

Jaylen Watson continued to work back after passing his physical and being removed from the PUP on Wednesday. Still no team drills for LG Joe Thuney as he works his way back from the PUP list as well.

Kadarius Toney (ankle), Nazeeh Johnson (hamstring), Izaiah Gathings (hamstring), and Deon Bush (ankle) were all absent from practice. Bush was noticeably limping near the training tent.

Nick Bolton was late walking down the hill. He's dealing with an elbow injury that isn't believed to be serious. That said, the Chiefs will likely be cautious with Bolton given his injury woes a season ago.

Jack Cochrane filled in for Bolton at MIKE linebacker on Thursday. Why Cochrane and not Drue Tranquill? They're likely trying to get Cochrane comfortable in that role whereas they know that Tranquill can play it successfully. In 9-on-7 run drills, it was apparent that Cochrane was comfortable wearing the green dot.

Eyes on 1-on-1 OL/DL drills

I spent a lot of time focusing on the one-on-one drills today and two players really stood out to me. The first was rookie OT Kingsley Suamataia, who just moves differently than a lot of the offensive linemen out here. That was evident on the sweep play to Worthy on Wednesday.

Suamataia worked twice against Felix Anudike-Uzomah during 1-on-1's. Anudike-Uzomah has been great during this camp in his own right, but Suamataia got the best of him on both reps. He stonewalled a bull rush on the first attempt and worked Anudike-Uzomah up the arc on the second attempt. Suamataia later had reps against Mike Danna, winning the first rep by working him up the arc. On the second rep, Danna came back with a counter move and was able to get free on a very similar rush.

Next up was DT Fabien Lovett. I've been a big fan of rookie OL Hunter Nourzad during this training camp, but Lovett made him look like a rookie twice in a row while showing off some of the tools in his tool case. The first time, he beat him cleanly with a rip move. The second time, Lovett beat Nourzad with a nasty swim move. They were easily the two best wins of the day during OL/DL work.

Some more notes from OL/DL 1-on-1's . . .

Ethan Driskell had a rep against FAU that left me marveling at his length.

Creed Humphrey against Mike Pennel was easily the most fun battle to watch.

George Karlaftis had several strong reps against Jawaan Taylor.

Lucas Niang and Wanya Morris struggled with inside moves.

Justyn Ross among the clear standouts from WR group today

While WRs Nikko Remigio and Montrell Washington have had their moments since I've been up to training camp, Justyn Ross had perhaps his best day of the year. Several media members noted that he had a strong day as practice wrapped.

Ross caught everything thrown his way during the course of practice, except for one pass by my count, which I noted was poorly thrown. This grab on 7-on-7 was pretty reminiscent of most of his day. He does a great job locating and catching the ball in contested and tight spaces.

A veteran cornerback has a strong practice

On the defensive side of the ball, Keith Taylor was a major standout for me today. He had an impressive PBU during 11-on-11 team drills and followed it up with a dazzling interception in 7-on-7.

Taylor popped up the ball in coverage against WR Montrell Washington. The ball went pretty high in the air and Taylor was able to track it and record the interception himself.

Quick hits

False start issues were pretty consistent throughout practice. I counted one on LG Mike Caliendo during team install. One on WR Kyle Sheets during team install. One on Jawaan Taylor that was pretty close in terms of his timing the snap. One on Lucas Niang during a long drive period that would have put the second-team offense on the one-inch line.
The Chiefs did some situational work during one 11-on-11 team period where the team had :25 seconds left on the clock to move into field goal range (missed opportunity to make a 13-second reference if you ask me). Mahomes sidearmed a throw to Travis Kelce to get into range. He hurried up the offense to spike the ball leaving just 14 seconds on the clock. It was more than enough time to get Butker out on the field and make presumably a game-winning or tying field goal.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn't get any repetitions with the first-team offense during the 9-on-7 run period. Only Isiah Pacheco and Deneric Prince worked with the starters.
The Chiefs had a few different looks at cornerback on Thursday. At times Chamarri Conner played nickel with Kelvin Joseph and Trent McDuffie outside. Other times McDuffie shifted inside with Joseph and Josh Williams on the outside.
Pass protection might not be for rookie RB Emani Bailey. He got obliterated during a team drill repetition against LB Swayze Bozeman. You could hear the pop from the pads all the way up in the media tent and the crowd audibly gasped.
Jared Wiley had another strong practice, highlighted by a touchdown grab during team drills with the second-team offense.
Baylor Cupp, in addition to getting reps with the starters on Wednesday, was one of the starting protectors on PAT and field goal drills. He seems to be a favorite of Dave Toub, so that's something to watch as camp continues.
Griffin McDowell got some work at the third-team left tackle and I was impressed with what I saw, albeit against the third-team defense.
Nikko Remigio was the second punt returner at practice today behind Mecole Hardman, but he was the only returner to get a touchdown off the JUGS machine working against the punt coverage unit. Why did they use the JUGS machine and not Matt Araiza? It more closely gives them a right-footed punter look, which they'll face frequently.