KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As expected, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. did not participate in the Kansas City Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp this week.
He’s not under contract — Brown has yet to sign his franchise-tag tender — so he wasn’t required to be at the three days of practice.
But Brown was in town hanging out with at least one teammate, who expects the Chiefs and the left tackle to work out a long-term deal before the July 15 deadline before the franchise-tag tender locks in for the 2022 season.
“I was with him yesterday actually,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Thursday on the final day of the minicamp. “I hang out with him a lot. He loves football, he loves the Kansas City Chiefs, he loves being here in this organization. Now, the stuff that’s always tough is the business side of this. All of us want to provide for our families in the long-term, the next generations. I know he’s trying to get that all handled.”
Mahomes said he and Brown have play dates with their children.
“He has a young one too, about the same age as Sterling,” Mahomes said. “Brittany and his girl get along well and they always hang out during the season, so we just kind of hung out with him a little bit. It wasn’t about football; it was just kind of getting the families together and seeing him and everything like that.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid called Brown a young player “one the rise.” He’s entering his fifth NFL season and has been a Pro Bowler three times, including his first season in Kansas City last year after arriving via trade with Baltimore.
“I thought he got better,” Reid said. “Again, he’s a young guy, so there’s plenty of room to grow and he’s wired the right way to do that, to attack that. I know he’s been working out and doing the things he needs to do to get himself ready for camp.”
Reid said, while he hasn’t had much contact with Brown, he knows the two sides are working hard to hash out a deal before training camp next month.
“I’m not doing a whole lot of conversing with him, but Brett and his crew are,” Reid said. “These things don’t ever happen overnight. That’s not how it works, but they’ll work through it. I know both sides will work through it the right way and come to a spot there that’s good for both Orlando and the team.”
Injury update
Reid didn’t provide any injury updates, but he did say that he expects rookie cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Joshua Williams, who left practice Tuesday and didn’t participate Wednesday, and wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was helped off the field Wednesday, will be ready for training camp.
“He’ll be fine,” Reid said of Gordon. “He came out on the better end of that.”
Reid added that he expects “for the most part to have all the guys back” when the team reaches St. Joseph for camp.
When asked if he could confirm that defensive end Frank Clark was excused awaiting the birth of a child, Reid indicated that was the case.
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