Chiefs Training Camp: Jared Wiley sees high expectations on new team

As the Kansas City Chiefs position themselves for a history-making run at a Super Bowl three-peat, the stakes (and the expectations) have never been higher. As he begins his first training camp, rookie tight end Jared Wiley can sense it.

“Expectations are obviously super-high here,” Wiley told reporters on Thursday, following the team’s second rookie/quarterback practice session at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. “I wake up every morning and I’m like, ‘You can’t have a bad day here, because everybody else is going to have a great day.’

“So I just try to be the best version of me — and do whatever I can to help out these guys.“

Wiley says he’s “super blessed” to join a team with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, whom ESPN recently named the “Best NFL player.”

“[He’s] the best quarterback I’ve ever been around,” he declared. “So it’s been really big getting to take reps with him before everybody else gets here.”

Wiley has also been keeping a close eye on fellow tight end (and veteran leader) Travis Kelce.

“[He has great] knowledge of the game,” he noted, “whether it’s of our offense (obviously he’s been in it for a while) or just knowing what the defense is going to do — and how he can kind of manipulate his routes.”

Though the conversations comparing Kelce and Wiley began when the Chiefs drafted the former TCU player, Wiley said he just hopes to be considered a “complete tight end.”

“In college, I feel like I got overlooked a lot.” he reflected. “[There were] some of [those] guys who didn’t want to really get their hands dirty or anything like that. So I’ve really tried to pride myself on being that complete tight end. If it’s third-and-1 or if it’s third-and-10, I’m not coming out of the game.”

Wiley hopes he can make a difference whenever he is on the field.

“[I want to] just come in and contribute,” he said. “We have a really talented group. So if I can find a way to come in and contribute as much as I possibly can — whether it’s on special teams [or] anything they want me to do on offense — that’d be my biggest goal.”