Kansas City’s second-year tight end was able to meet his first goal of the season.
In the second quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 20-17 preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, second-year tight end Jared Wiley turned in a big play: he caught a 25-yard pass from reserve quarterback Bailey Zappe.
Unfortunately, the play was negated by a penalty. But for Wiley, just being on the field only nine months after tearing his ACL was a win.
“That was the goal from the jump,” Wiley recalled after Monday’s training camp practice at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. “I remember shortly after I had surgery, I was talking to a couple of the trainers up there. [I was] down on myself — just not feeling very good — and so we decided to set a pretty lofty goal for me: that was to get back by training camp. So far, it’s been great. It’s been a great experience, so I couldn’t be happier with it.”
While Wiley feels more confident after a successful return to game action, he has continued working with the team’s training staff.
“I feel good,” he declared. “You know, it took me a drive or two to kind of get into the rhythm of the game [on Saturday], but I was kind of expecting that. Being able to be out here and compete with the guys that are out here, I think it’s really helped me both mentally and physically. [It’s] just knowing what I can do — and then the training staff up here has been great at making sure that I’m taken care of.”
Learning what he could do off the field was also part of Wiley’s recovery.
“Just figuring out, really, who I was outside of football [was difficult], to be honest,” he admitted. “[It’s hard] having something like that stripped away from you — and then having to find a way to still stay involved as much as you can. You really feel like you’re missing out [on] getting to watch these guys play on Sundays. You’re just at the house [with your] feet kicked back. It sucked.”
It was also hard to miss his teammates’ postseason run that ended with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. Wiley was in New Orleans for the final game.
“It was awful,” Wiley recalled, “just as it was like that for every game. I loved seeing our success last year, but the competitor in me — the type of teammate and player that I want to be for these guys? I want to be out there in the action — and be helping as much as I can.”
Now that Wiley is back in the mix, he finds himself in a very talented position group. In addition to franchise legend Travis Kelce (and the ever-reliable Noah Gray), veteran Robert Tonyan is also in the room — and had an impressive night against the Cardinals.
“Y’all see it,” he remarked. “Y’all saw it a couple of days ago. The possibilities with the guys in that room? [They] seem endless.”
