Andy Reid says the quiet part out loud as the deep passing game flourishes at Chiefs training camp

People might consider it vain when members of the Kansas City Chiefs admit that they didn't play as well as they could have last season.

The results were still a Super Bowl LVIII championship, but even Patrick Mahomes knows that his team could've played better down the stretch. As the team looks to become the first in NFL history to three-peat, they've emphasized some of the improvements they would have liked to make last season.

One of those changes involves the success of the deep passing game and throwing the ball downfield. They tried at times to make the deep ball happen last year, but they simply didn't have the personnel to consistently threaten in that regard. They made a concerted effort to add to the wide receiver room with a pair of playmakers in Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy .

On Tuesday, Chiefs HC Andy Reid was asked about the resurgence of the deep passing game at training camp this year and whether he has advised Mahomes to utilize it with greater frequency. His response was to say the quiet part out loud about the team's improvement in one key area.

"He's going to throw to the guy that is open," Reid proclaimed. "We're calling the same plays, but he's got guys that, that's a part of their game. The best part of their game is going downfield. He's utilizing that, testing that out right now, and seeing how it works. So far he's had some good connections there. More efficient, less bad."

The Chiefs aren't doing anything different with the deep passing game this year. They've not made a concerted effort to call different plays or go deep with a greater frequency. They simply didn't have the personnel to consistently execute in the deep passing game in 2023, and there's no shame in that. They recognized that was a weakness and Brett Veach was tasked with fixing it. Now, they've got players who aren't just able to execute in that regard, but tracking and catching the deep ball is the best part of their game as Reid says.

That's not just apparent based on Reid's words, but even looking at some of the tape to come out of practice reveals that the deep ball is thriving. The defensive backs are having to adjust to a different level of speed , composure, and ball-tracking down the field than they did during practices a season ago. The pads still have to come on, but in the earliest portions of training camp, it's apparent that Steve Spagnuolo's unit will really have to up their game on the days that the offense is firing on all cylinders.

Related: Chiefs' Andy Reid gives perfect explanation for Kadarius Toney taking on a dual-threat role at training camp