Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce Among Chiefs Starters Not at Day 3 of OTAs

Remember, folks: these are all voluntary.

As the Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a three-day stretch of organized team activities, they had several starters not appearing in Day 3, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Reported by a number of sources including Nate Taylor of The Athletic, Mahomes, Kelce and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders didn't participate on Thursday after being available earlier in the week. Taylor also noted that defensive end Frank Clark, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and cornerback Charvarious Ward were also non-participants.

Nice to be at the Chiefs’ final OTA practice of the 1st week.

For today, Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce & Khalen Saunders didn’t participate after practicing earlier this week.

Frank Clark, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif & Charvarius Ward didn’t participate.

— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) May 27, 2021

Mahomes is hosting a charity golf event in Hawaii from May 28-30, likely explaining his Thursday absence, as pointed out by Dani Welniak of KCTV5.

No Mahomes or Kelce out at OTAs today and I’m guessing this is why. We will hear from Andy Reid coming up at 1 pm. Remember these are NOT mandatory. OTAs are optional. https://t.co/ZhvDQisNfF

— Dani Welniak (@DaniWelniak) May 27, 2021

Head coach Andy Reid also noted that there was a cold bug going around the facilities which impacted certain players, possibly including some of Thursday's non-participants.

Andy Reid did say there's a cold bug going around. Didn't say which players were affected. https://t.co/PuR5RTQWfo

— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) May 27, 2021

I wrote about the possibility of not achieving full participation before OTAs kicked off this week:

As many teams around the league have organized various forms of boycotts for voluntary offseason activities, the Chiefs opened their offseason workout program with 81 players present, according to Herbie Teope of The Kansas City Star. I expect the Chiefs to have a mostly full house again for OTAs, but the specifics of who does and doesn't show up will bear watching.

Ultimately, the Chiefs got a significant amount of participation, with Mahomes only missing Thursday's action and no high-profile holdouts as any sort of contract dispute or holdout, meaning the Chiefs should be all-systems-go as the offseason programs continue.

Read More: Three Things to Watch For During Chiefs OTAs