The standards are astronomically high with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Anything short of a Super Bowl win in the 2024 NFL season is going to be viewed as a failure for the back-to-back reigning champions. For the incoming rookie class, the pressure of that championship mentality is felt from Day 1.
As training camp kicks off, those expectations are intensified to an even greater extent for the rookie class. For Chiefs rookie TE Jared Wiley, those expectations have left him repeating a phrase to himself every morning before practice.
"Expectations are obviously super high here, so that’s another thing," Wiley told reporters on Thursday. "You know 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 – that’s kind of what I’m doing every day.”
Wiley feels that he can't afford to have a bad day because everyone else is going to have the polar opposite. It doesn't matter if it's other players in the tight end room that he's competing against for playing time or players he's practicing against on the defensive side of the ball. It's all about getting better one day at a time and taking incremental steps forward. If you do make a mistake, don't make that same mistake twice, and certainly don't let it lead to a bad day.
Wiley's goal for his rookie season is simple: Contribute in any way possible
As Wiley hits the practice fields in St. Joseph, Missouri, he's working toward a goal that most in the Chiefs' rookie draft class are. That's to say he's looking to carve out a role for himself in a highly competitive position group and by any means necessary.
“Just come in and contribute," Wiley explained of his goals. "I know it’s in our room - we got me, Irv (Smith Jr.), Noah (Gray), Gerrit (Prince), obviously Trav (Kelce), you know we have a really talented group. 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 would be my biggest goal. Just to prove that I belong in that room and just to be able to be on the field with those guys.”
Thankfully, Wiley already has some believers in the room. Travis Kelce believes the rookie is further along than he was when Kelce was in his shoes. The rookie also left a strong first impression on Chiefs TE coach Tom Melvin during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Still, he can't help but feel that he's got something to prove to himself, his teammates, his coaches, and those who overlooked him in the 2024 NFL draft.
"In college, I feel like I got overlooked a lot with some of these guys who didn't want to really get their hands dirty or anything like that," Wiley said. "So you know, I've really tried to pride myself in being that complete tight end who, if it's third-and-1 or third-and-10, I'm not coming out of the game. So, just kind of proving to myself and proving to everybody else that I can do that at this level. That's what I'm looking forward to the most."
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