Jul 22, 2025; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid speaks with a staff member on field during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley-Imagn Images

All Eyes on Chiefs' Rookie Against Arizona Cardinals

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Dominic Minchella | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Arizona Cardinals to kickstart their preseason games, as they inch closer to the start of the regular season. The Chiefs will begin their regular season against AFC West division rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in Week 1 of the campaign.

While this game against the Cardinals doesn't count towards their regular season record, the Chiefs must take this game as seriously as they would any other. This will allow head coach Andy Reid and other coaches to know which areas players are thriving in and which areas they need to improve.

One of the biggest things to watch going into this game is how well the 2025 NFL Draft class performs for the Chiefs. Rookie mistakes are likely to be made, but they should be taken with a grain of salt. However, this is also a massive opportunity for them to show their coaches they're ready for the NFL.

When he finds his time on the field, all eyes should be on fourth-round draft pick, wide receiver Jalen Royals.

When Royals was drafted by the Chiefs, it could easily be seen that the franchise wanted to add extra speed to the wide receiving room. Regardless of him being a fourth-round pick, Royals has high expectations with the Chiefs, and they could come sooner rather than later.

With the uncertainty of Rashee Rice's suspension, Royals, who has been compared to Rice since donning a Chiefs uniform, could be a player that Patrick Mahomes or the other quarterbacks look to utilize a ton in this game against the Cardinals, especially to see what he's got against an unfamiliar opponent.

Chemistry Building with Mahomes

Royals has already been getting targeted by both Mahomes and Minshew thus far in training camp. For Royals, he knows that if he listens to Mahomes, he should be good.

"In the meeting room, he tells me everything I need to do and then, you know, off the meetings and stuff like that, where I'm just out here he'll tell me you know corrections and stuff like that and then obviously after the play you know he let me know on the sideline," Royals said .

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This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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