Right tackle Jawaan Taylor returns to practice as Chiefs put pads on for first time in training camp
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor made his training camp debut after missing their first four practices because of a knee injury, and he was right in the mix with the starters Sunday as they put on pads for the first time.
Backup tight end Tre Watson, who also had been out with a groin injury, passed his physical and joined Taylor on the field.
Taylor has started all 33 regular-season games he has played for Kansas City over the past two seasons. But his blocking metrics coupled with a propensity for penalties mean his job is far from secure. The Chiefs signed backup 49ers tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million deal and used their first-round draft pick on Ohio State standout Josh Simmons.
After the first week of camp, Simmons appears to have the inside track on the left tackle job, which was a problem position for the Chiefs all of last season. So when Taylor returned, it was in a rotation with Moore for first-team snaps on Sunday.
“We’re getting back in the swing. He hasn’t done anything,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Taylor, who showed up on the injury report with knee trouble much of last season and had offseason surgery. “But all three are kind of competing there.”
Reid said he was pleased with the way Simmons looked in his first padded practice. There was some question about whether he would even be ready for camp after tearing his patellar tendon in a game with the Buckeyes last season.
“He did some good things. I wasn’t focusing on him the whole time, but I thought he did some good things,” Reid said. “He’s a work in progress. He has to keep working. Young guy.”
Meanwhile, Reid said cornerback Kristian Fulton had a procedure to “clean out” his knee in the spring, which is why he remains on the physically unable to perform list. The Chiefs gave him a two-year, $20 million deal in March.
Rookie tight end Jake Briningstool also did not practice Sunday because of a hamstring injury.
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