ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs held their first full-squad workout of training camp Wednesday without offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who remained with his family following the shooting of his wife — allegedly by their son — at their Virginia home last weekend.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the workout that Mia Bieniemy had been released from the intensive care unit, where she was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. But there was no timetable for when Eric Bieniemy would be back with the team.
“She’s making progress,” Reid said, “so we’re happy about that.”
Elijah Zion Bieniemy, the 27-year-old son of the couple, was arrested in connection with the late-Sunday shooting. He was charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling, and was being held without bond Wednesday at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
Elijah Bieniemy has a court date to hear motions scheduled for Thursday. His preliminary hearing date is Aug. 31.
Eric Bieniemy returned earlier this year to the Chiefs, where he experienced his greatest success as an assistant. He was instrumental in Kansas City reaching three Super Bowls and winning two of them before departing for the Washington Commanders in 2023, where he had wanted to build upon his resume in the hopes of landing a head coaching job.
Bieniemy was part of Ron Rivera’s staff that was let go following that season, though. He spent one season as offensive coordinator at UCLA before spending last season coaching the running backs with the Chicago Bears.
However long he misses training camp is noteworthy, given Bieniemy is trying to get up to speed with any changes to Reid’s playbook over the past few years. But the Chiefs are uniquely suited to press on without him during an important part of training camp.
Not only do they have continuity on their coaching staff but have veteran leaders on the offensive side of the ball.
Pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier, who has been with the Chiefs for the past decade and is widely considered a rising star in the profession, has assumed many of Bieniemy’s responsibilities. Others have fallen upon veteran offensive line coach Andy Heck, who has held that job ever since Reid’s initial Kansas City coaching staff was put together following the 2012 season.
There’s also the fact that Reid has a heavy hand in running the Chiefs offense. He receives plenty of input from his coordinators, but it is ultimately Reid who calls the plays on gameday, and who has the ear of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
As for the two-time MVP, who is coming off reconstructive surgery on his left knee, Mahomes knows the Kansas City offense as well as anybody besides his head coach. And when you add in veterans such as tight end Travis Kelce, offensive linemen Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy, there is plenty of experience out on the field.
“We’ll be able to keep it moving here,” Reid said.
Meanwhile, Mahomes looked sharp in his first 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work of camp Wednesday, even though the Chiefs won’t have pads on for several more days. At one point, he zipped a pass between two defenders to Kelce for a nice gain in the red zone.
“I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt as far as strength and lifting and stuff like that,” Mahomes said, “so now it’s just about getting that quarterback stuff down, the stuff moving in the pocket quick — making those quick movements — reacting and doing stuff like that.
“I feel like I wasn’t playing my best football at the end of last year before I got hurt,” he added. “I’ve got to find ways to get better, kind of navigating the pocket, run the offense better, getting the ball out of my hands and letting guys make plays. So I think this injury has kind of helped me focus on those little things as I kind of get back to who I am.”
Notes: DE Ethan Downs had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee and was placed on injured reserve. ... Rice (knee) and CB L’Jarius Snead (knee) participated in about half the practice before spending the rest of the time with the training staff. “That was the plan,” Reid said. ... First-round CB Mansoor Delane (shoulder) participated in most of practice in a yellow no-contact jersey.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
