For Mitch Morse, playing center was something in his past. He was moved to tackle for his last couple of collegiate seasons at Missouri and hadn’t worked much on his snaps since.
Upon arriving in Kansas City for this weekend’s rookie minicamp and being told by his Kansas City Chiefs coaches he would be working mostly at center, Morse figured he needed to brush up on those skills.
He did that in his area hotel room with his new Chiefs teammate, undrafted offensive lineman Charles Sweeton. The two worked on that in a cramped hotel room, Morse doing the snapping and Sweeton acting as the quarterback.
“That was a fun time,” said Morse, the Chiefs' second-round draft pick.
He got to work on his snapping some more on Saturday, as the Chiefs opened their rookie camp. Morse also worked some at guard.
"From what I saw, I thought Mitch did pretty well," coach Andy Reid said. "He seems to be handling things pretty well."
Getting Morse comfortable at center is important to the Chiefs, who have no established players at the position. Morse may or may not be the starter when the regular season begins, but the Chiefs at least hope he is ready to step in as a backup.
Morse indicated he spent some practice time at center for Missouri the past two years and worked on it some while preparing for the draft.
“There have been times at practice when you do game-time situations when people go down and get hurt (and) you have to move in at center, just here and there," he said. “Nothing too extensive.
“This offseason, especially around combine training, we implemented me at center. Talked to the agent and (he) said, 'Listen, this is what guys see you at. Heavy, short arms.' I had no idea about it until I got to the combine.
“I started working on my snaps right after that.”
