The Kansas City Chiefs are going to have fierce competition in training camp at the wide receiver position. Rookie Chris Conley will be one of the men slugging it out for time on the field, going against second-year man Albert Wilson for the starting spot across from Jeremy Maclin.
From all accounts, Conley has looked good in shorts at OTAs, but the real football starts in July when the pads come on at training camp. Still, Conley is working toward getting himself acclimated with the NFL and spoke about the process on Wednesday after practice.
“It’s a learning experience, a huge learning experience. Things are flying at 100 miles an hour. Once again, the rookies, we haven’t had a moment to think and rest since last July, really. Now it’s just a whirlwind of information. Right now we’re having to compete, having to show what we can do and make good impressions. It’s been great, it’s been fun, loving it here in Kansas City, just continuing to work to try and get better.”
Conley also has the luxury of working with a pair of veterans in Maclin and Jason Avant. Despite both being fairly new to Kansas City, the duo is indoctrinated in head coach Andy Reid’s system, having played under him with the Philadelphia Eagles. Conley says he has already learned plenty from watching those two.
“How to be a professional. How to go about your business, how to be efficient with your reps. That’s a really big deal here, because being healthy is very important. You take a lot of reps, you run a lot. Taking care of your legs while also being explosive and clean in and out of your breaks is really hard to do. Being able to learn from those guys has been invaluable. Every single rep that they take, I watch.”
The rookie receiver also talked about the importance of having his former college quarterback on the roster, Aaron Murray. Murray was not able to get into a game last year as a first-year player but did have the opportunity to learn the system and schemes. With Murray around him, Conley is getting some additional coaching from a familiar face.
“It helps tremendously. It helps because Aaron knows how I work, Aaron knows how I think, he’s able to ease that transition a little more. If there’s a question I can’t get answered by Coach Culley or by someone else who’s in that huddle, then I can go after practice and sit with Aaron and ask those questions. He’s been here, he knows the answers. Being able to work with somebody like that – there’s constant information coming everywhere – but having someone who knows you eases the transfer of information.”
Lastly, Conley talked about the west coast offense and whether it fits his style of play. Not surprisingly, Conley feels Kansas City is a good place for him.
“Yeah, I think so. I think that I’m made for an offense like this. I believe that the coaching I’m getting from Coach (David) Culley, I’m getting better as a player. That’s really one of the important things in this offense, you have to be able to do everything as a receiver. I’m feeling like I’m getting better at that. Right now I’m trying to keep my head down and keep grinding.”