Nick Jacobs' notes from Day 12 of Kansas City Chiefs training camp

SAINT JOSEPH, Mo. — The Chiefs were back out on the field after a day off on Friday. During the initial team drill, they appeared to be working on simulated blitzes.

Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie was able to take advantage of the pressure with multiple deflections during the day. He timed a lofted pass intended for Mecole Hardman and deflected it, trying to create an opportunity for an interception for one of his teammates.

Cornerback Deandre Baker was able to come up with an interception when a pass came in hot for second-year wide receiver Cornell Powell. He was unable to make the catch and bobbled it up in the air. Baker came down with it in a tip-drill style of play.

Patrick Mahomes had an impressive pass during his second crack at pressure. He had the perfect loft to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for an over-the-shoulder catch. The placement of the ball allowed Edwards-Helaire to control his body, stay in bounds and continue his stride of additional yards after the catch.

The Chiefs later worked on their hurry-up offense. Safety Deon Bush could have had an easy pick on a slant route over the middle, but he throttled back to not collide with the receiver. He likely goes for it in a game versus a random day in training camp.

Another portion today that caught my attention was the offense and defensive line one-on-ones. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap is knocking the rust off at this time. It will be interesting to see where he is at in the next couple of weeks with this being only his second day on the field.

Left tackle Orlando Brown got the opportunity to go against Frank Clark and George Karlaftis. He was effective in all four rushing attempts. Brown showed quicker feet as well as had an answer for the inside moves that got him at times last season. His offseason conditioning strategy appears to be working effectively from initial glances.

Defensive tackle Chris Jones looks like he is back in old form. He had one of the best rushes in camp when he put left guard Joe Thuney on skates with a very effective bull rush. He also had a great swim and club against right guard Trey Smith.

Rookie defensive end Karlaftis continues to showcase his growth with every practice. He is always testing out the hand fighting moves, counters and additional rushes he learned from the veterans in between downtime and after practices.

Rookie running back Isiah Pacheco spent some time with the first team today. He displayed exceptionally good vision and the ability to cutback quickly. There were backside cutback lanes that continually opened up, and he timed them well with his blockers to maximize the gain on the plays.

The timing between Mahomes and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is inching closer to a veteran that has spent years in this offense. Smith-Schuster is becoming the next key target behind Travis Kelce on the field.

Also during seven-on-seven, wide receiver Josh Gordon was able to get behind McDuffie for a 40-yard plus touchdown strike from Mahomes.

Quote of the Day

Chiefs Safety Juan Thornhill on his recovery from a torn ACL during the 2019 season.

“I feel better today than I did two months ago. I’m still just getting better and better each and every week. And I can definitely say it’s a huge difference. Last year, I was still thinking about it, I still had pain in the knee. Now, I’m just out there playing football with no pain. Not even thinking about it. So that allows me to make more plays. If I’m reading concepts instead of thinking about a knee, I’m going to make more plays naturally. I feel a lot better for sure.”

Injury Updates

Wide receiver Gary Jennings still has a concussion. Defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth has a knee bruise. Wide receiver Daurice Fountain hurt his finger on Saturday — the team was going to get an X-ray and MRI on the finger. Tight end Jody Fortson continues to deal with a quad injury. Cornerback Rashad Fenton and right tackle Lucas Niang remain on the physically unable to perform list.

The Chiefs return to practice at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, which is also Family Fun Day. The team has four more practices before their first preseason game on the road against the Chicago Bears on Saturday, Aug. 13.

You can catch the game on KSHB 41. Our coverage begins at 11 a.m.