On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs ran their first of three mandatory minicamp practices. While Kansas City had good attendance during OTAs, Tuesday was the first practice that saw all the starters participate in some fashion. That said, one player that has Chiefs fans excited about his potential missed the first day of mandatory minicamp.
According to Pete Sweeney of ArrowheadPride, rookie tight end Jake Briningstool attended practice but was held out. Briningstool missing one of three mandatory minicamp practices doesn’t exactly bode well for his chances to stay with Kansas City, like Chiefs fans are hoping for.
Attendance for minicamp was near-perfect, with only TEs Tre Watson and Jake Briningstool held out. Briningstool attended the practice but did not have a helmet. The #Chiefs also hosted 4 tryout players: WR Tanner Knue, TE Geor’Quarius Spivey, OT Ricky Lee and C Joe Lombard.
https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/1935085073881088349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Rookie TE Jake Briningstool Put Himself Behind the Eight Ball by Missing the First Day of Mandatory Minicamp
Following the 2025 NFL Draft, the Chiefs brought Briningstool in as an undrafted free agent. The 22-year-old attended the University of Clemson from 2021-2024. During his four seasons with the Tigers, Briningstool recorded 117 catches for 1,380 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Despite those being good cumulative stats, he only recorded one season with over 500 receiving yards, which was his senior year in 2024. Even so, Dane Brugler of The Athletic praised Briningstool in The Beast, his pre-draft scouting report. Brugler said, “Briningstool is an athletic route runner, and he has the tracking and ball skills to work the seam or present a large target in the red zone.”
However, he also pointed to an area where Briningstool needed to get better, saying, “He needs to continue improving his play strength as a blocker.” It’s easy to see why Chiefs fans got excited about Briningstool eventually becoming a Travis Kelce replacement.
Nevertheless, missing the first day of minicamp is not a great start for the rookie. Briningstool needs to prove he is more valuable than Jared Wiley (who is also currently sidelined with injury) and veteran Robert Tonyoan, and missing practice isn’t the way to do that.
Kansas City has one true day of minicamp practice left on Wednesday, as Thursday is gasser (sprint conditioning) day. Hopefully, the Chiefs see Bringingstool back on the field for Wednesday’s practice.
