Before Tuesday, Kansas City Chiefs players were working out on their own. Beginning Tuesday, they got in three days of lockout workouts.
Despite some concern as to the value of unsupervised player-organized minicamps, Chiefs guard Ryan Lilja realizes that working out with his teammates is better than working out alone.
“I thought I was [in shape], but coming here running some plays and being with the guys, I’ve got a ways to go,” Lilja said, per the Associated Press. “So I’m excited about refocusing on [conditioning]. We came out here and kind of gauged ourselves a little bit and got to work. Hopefully, we can all get back to work because it’s fun to be back with the guys.”
Despite the absence of contact, the workouts were still intense.
“We were going harder than I expected we were going to go,” Lilja said. “We thought, ‘Hey, one step, chill.’ Man, we were running just like we had helmets on, like it was a Friday practice. And guys were moving around. It felt like normal. But we didn’t get anybody hurt.”
The workouts were organized by quarterback Matt Cassel, linebacker Derrick Johnson, and safety Jon McGraw. The closed sessions featured more than 40 players, a trainer in the event of injuries, and security guards.
Yes, security guards.
Somewhere in California, Mike Silver is working out his middle finger. Again.