Despite the recent drama between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tamba Hali, he was at the team’s facility on Friday — just not on the field. It was also announced that Hali would open camp on the PUP list.
Tamba Hali is in St. Joe. He'll be on the PUP list to open camp but he's training in the building even though he's not on the field
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) July 28, 2017
As Josh Apler of Pro Football Talk noted, opening camp on the PUP list is not a new experience for Hali.
“Hali opened camp last year on the PUP list as well and returned to action in the latter part of August after recovering from a knee scope,” Apler noted. “He went on to play in all 16 regular season games, picking up 3.5 sacks and a chip on his shoulder about how he was used in the process.”
That part is undeniable.
Hali recently earned the scorn of coach Andy Reid for going on a Twitter outburst, lamenting his lack of playing time.
Obviously, if he’s on the PUP list, one has to wonder how healthy Hali is. Still, he’s been with the team and in the system long enough that as long as he can get healthy, missing training camp time isn’t the end of the world — though it’s not ideal.
The bigger issue at this point is Hali’s relationship with the team. Was the recent frustration just a venting session, or something that will have a longer impact on both Hali and his team?