ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Tyreek Hill returned to the Kansas City Chiefs practice field on Saturday to cheers from fans. The wide receiver pumped his arms and did a high-step to illustrate his excitement at being back with the team.
Hill then looked in practice as those fans would remember him, flashing his considerable speed to catch three deep passes from Patrick Mahomes.
“He had to go get ’em and he got ’em,” coach Andy Reid said after the Chiefs completed their first training camp practice at Missouri Western State University. “That’s a good thing.”
Hill was not available for interviews after practice. But Mahomes said Hill’s return completes the Chiefs offensively.
“Whenever you go out there on Sundays, it’s about stuff you did in training camp,” Mahomes said. “It’s about that hard work, that dedication you put in each and every day. You saw that today. We had a great practice to start it off and I think we’re going to keep building as the training camp goes on.
“The whole offense was really rolling and we were really connecting on a lot of deep balls. … It’s obviously good to get out there and get those reps and get those big passes completed. That’s a big part of our offense.”
The Chiefs suspended Hill from offseason activities in April after a Kansas City TV station played audio of a conversation between him and his fiancée discussing injuries suffered by their child. The Johnson County (Kansas) District Attorney’s office investigated but said it would not charge Hill with a crime.
The NFL said recently it would not penalize Hill in conjunction with the incident. Team chairman Clark Hunt said the Chiefs never considered imposing penalties of their own beyond the offseason suspension.
Hunt said he recently spoke with Hill.
“It was a very frank conversation talking to him about his responsibility as he comes back to be a Kansas City Chief,” Hunt said.
Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, who signed in the offseason as a free agent, had never played or practiced against Hill until Saturday.
“We had our run test earlier and you could just tell he has a gift for running,” Mathieu said. “I know as a safety, when he’s out there, just back up a little bit.”