KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyson Jackson was so antsy to join his new teammates he already had his bags packed for training camp.
All he needed was a call that a deal had been finalized.
It came while Jackson was sleeping Thursday night.
The defensive end from LSU hurried to River Falls, Wis., Friday morning and signed a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in time to practice in the afternoon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Last night when I got the phone call, I didn’t have a clue,” Jackson said Friday after reporting to camp. “I got the phone call and told my family about it and everybody was like ‘it’s time for you to get out of the house and go play some football.’”
Jackson got his chance right away.
The third overall pick in this year’s draft arrived in River Falls in the morning, passed his conditioning test, then was on the field for the Chiefs afternoon practice. He had been training with his LSU teammates back home, but was still a bit rusty and had to run a lap after jumping offside during one drill.
Jackson stayed after practice an extra 30 minutes with defensive line coach Tim Krumrie.
“I’m so far behind, I’m just trying to get into the playbook and learn as much as I can before we get started with the preseason,” Jackson said. “I just want to be out here with my teammates when they’re sweating.”
Jackson is expected to help an anemic Chiefs pass rush that set the all-time NFL record for fewest sacks with 10 last season.
Strong and quick at 6 feet 4, 296 pounds, Jackson is projected to start opposite former LSU teammate Glenn Dorsey on the front line of Kansas City’s new 3-4 defense. Jackson had 18.5 sacks and 122 tackles in 53 games at LSU, including 4.5 sacks his senior season.
For now, he’s just happy to be in camp, finally with his teammates after a weeklong holdout.
“I was trying to do my best to keep up with my teammates to see what was going on, trying to get in contact with my teammates with texts and phone calling, but it was pretty hard because they were always in meetings,” he said. “I was getting antsy, but I know it’s a process that everyone had to go through so I was just waiting patiently for my cell phone to ring and get that call to come up here.”
The Chiefs waived linebacker Weston Dacus to make room on the roster.
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