Donovan Smith is healthy and ready to help the Chiefs

Earlier this month, the Kansas City Chiefs made a bit of a surprising decision to bolster the offensive tackle position beyond the investments already made this offseason in free agency and the draft. After already signing Jawaan Taylor back in March and drafting Oklahoma's Wanya Morris in April, the Chiefs also enticed Donovan Smith to sign a one-year deal in early May.

Earlier in May, the Chiefs got Smith to sign on to compete for a starting tackle role after manning eight years at left tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Due to the fact that Lucas Niang is still returning from a torn patellar injury, and with Morris as a long-term project, the Chiefs still had a need for a Week 1 starter.

On Wednesday, Smith made his Chiefs media debut in front of reporters and took several questions about his decision to join the Chiefs and how the transition is coming along so far. For Smith, the journey to the Chiefs has been a "smooth" one as he's learned the ropes and taken in a few practices during this latest (and third) phase of offseason training activities.

"Man, it’s been great," said Smith to reporters. "Obviously, you see why they’re a championship team, the way they prepare, top to bottom, coaches and players. It’s good to see the locker room that’s good. You see the camaraderie that they have, hanging out with each other and whatnot. I’m still feeling my way around, figuring some things out and whatnot, but other than that, everything’s been smooth."

At this stage of the offseason, Smith says he's healthy and ready to compete for whatever role the Chiefs have for him after suffering a number of injuries last season in his final year with Tampa Bay.

"I played with a lot more injuries than I probably should have, but it’s just something that we do," said Smith. "We go out there and sacrifice our bodies for the greater good of the team. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish the way that we wanted, but it is what it is. It’s a new journey. I’m healthy; I’m fresh and feeling really good."

It also helps the Chiefs to employ a well-respected positional coach like Andy Heck for so long. He's not only played the parts himself but he's coached some of the best in the business. For Smith, that's been a helpful aspect of joining another team for the first time in his eight-year NFL career.

"Anytime you get a guy who has been in our shoes, it’s a little bit easier to be able to communicate and understand certain things. At no point in time is anything going to be perfect. That’s just the way that we play our game and whatnot, but he understands that and gets that. As a player, you can appreciate that and just the verbiage that we have to be able to communicate and talk like a player but still give us the points and everything we need as a coach, that makes everything easy."

Smith joins the Chiefs with 124 career starts of experience and one Super Bowl ring to his credit.