Tight end Travis Kelce, franchised guard Trey Smith attend Chiefs minicamp

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Tight end Travis Kelce, franchised guard Trey Smith attend Chiefs minicamp

2025-06-18 03:50 Last Updated At：04:00

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce and Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith, who skipped voluntary workouts after receiving the franchise tag, were present for the start of the Kansas City Chiefs' mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday.

Kelce also was absent for the voluntary workouts that had been open to reporters in recent weeks.

Smith is hoping to land a long-term contract with the Chiefs, who chose him in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, when his stock had plummeted amid health concerns. He has far outplayed that draft positioning, though, and that is why the Chiefs gave him the franchise tag — essentially a $23.4 million guaranteed salary for the upcoming season.

Smith and the Chiefs have until mid-July to work out a new contract, otherwise he will play the season on the one-year deal.

Smith was not made available to reporters Tuesday, but the fact that he reported to the mandatory minicamp — rather than risk a potential fine — was noteworthy. Two years ago, defensive tackle Chris Jones held out all summer and into the start of the regular season before eventually agreeing to a contract with Kansas City.

“It's good (Smith) didn't take my approach,” Jones quipped. “He shouldn't take advice from me.”

While the Chiefs worked through several lineups during the roughly 90-minute session, Smith's decision to report did give them an opportunity to see what their revamped offensive line could look like this upcoming season.

After they struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes for most of last season, and especially during a lopsided Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, the Chiefs began the makeover by trading two-time All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to the Bears for a draft pick in March.

The Chiefs proceeded to draft Josh Simmons, an offensive tackle from Ohio State, with the final pick in the first round.

Simmons was widely considered the top tackle available, but he was coming off a knee injury that caused him to slip to the 32nd overall pick. The Chiefs were confident in their medical workup on him, though, and that gamble appears to be paying off: He was on the field and moving around well during the start of the minicamp.

“Just trying to be available as I can right now,” he said.

It's unclear whether Simmons will be a full participant when training camp begins in late July, but things appear to be trending in that direction. And that raises hopes around Kansas City that Mahomes will finally have a capable blind-side protector.

“I wanted to be able to throw the pads on ASAP,” Simmons said. “Whatever the staff allows me to do, I'm definitely going to do.”

Meanwhile, the Chiefs are hopeful that second-year pro Kingsley Suamataia can continue his transition from tackle to guard, and take Thuney's place alongside Simmons on the left side of the line. And when they are joined by All-Pro center Creed Humphrey, Smith at right guard and veteran Jawaan Taylor at right tackle, the Chiefs could have their best offensive line in years.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

What to expect from CES 2026, the annual show of all things tech?

LAS VEGAS (AP) — With the start of the New Year squarely behind us, it's once again time for the annual CES trade show to shine a spotlight on the latest tech companies plan on offering in 2026.

The multi-day event, organized by the Consumer Technology Association, kicks off this week in Las Vegas, where advances across industries like robotics, healthcare, vehicles, wearables, gaming and more are set to be on display.

Artificial intelligence will be anchored in nearly everything, again, as the tech industry explores offerings consumers will want to buy. AI industry heavyweight Jensen Huang will be taking the stage to showcase Nvidia's latest productivity solutions, and AMD CEO Lisa Su will keynote to “share her vision for delivering future AI solutions.” Expect AI to come up in other keynotes, like from Lenovo's CEO, Yuanqing Yang.

The AI industry is out in full force tackling issues in healthcare, with a particular emphasis on changing individual health habits to treat conditions — such as Beyond Medicine's prescription app focused on a particular jaw disorder — or addressing data shortages in subjects such as breast milk production.

Expect more unveils around domestic robots too. Korean tech giant LG already has announced it will show off a helper bot named “ CLOiD,” which allegedly will handle a range of household tasks. Hyundai also is announcing a major push on robotics and manufacturing advancements. Extended reality, basically a virtual training ground for robots and other physical AI, is also in the buzz around CES.

In 2025, more than 141,000 attendees from over 150 countries, regions, and territories attended the CES. Organizers expect around the same numbers for this year’s show, with more than 3,500 exhibitors across the floor space this week.

The AP spoke with CTA Executive Chair and CEO Gary Shapiro about what to expect for CES 2026. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Well, we have a lot at this year's show.

Obviously, using AI in a way that makes sense for people. We’re seeing a lot in robotics. More robots and humanoid-looking robots than we’ve ever had before.

We also see longevity in health, there’s a lot of focus on that. All sorts of wearable devices for almost every part of the body. Technology is answering healthcare’s gaps very quickly and that’s great for everyone.

Mobility is big with not only self-driving vehicles but also with boats and drones and all sorts of other ways of getting around. That’s very important.

And of course, content creation is always very big.

You are seeing humanoid robots right now. It sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t.

But yes, there are more and more humanoid robots. And when we talk about CES 5, 10, 15, 20 years now, we’re going to see an even larger range of humanoid robots.

Obviously, last year we saw a great interest in them. The number one product of the show was a little robotic dog that seems so life-like and fun, and affectionate for people that need that type of affection.

But of course, the humanoid robots are just one aspect of that industry. There’s a lot of specialization in robot creation, depending on what you want the robot to do. And robots can do many things that humans can’t.

AI is the future of creativity.

Certainly AI itself may be arguably creative, but the human mind is so unique that you definitely get new ideas that way. So I think the future is more of a hybrid approach, where content creators are working with AI to craft variations on a theme or to better monetize what they have to a broader audience.

We’re seeing all sorts of different devices that are implementing AI. But we have a special focus at this show, for the first time, on the disability community. Verizon set this whole stage up where we have all different ways of taking this technology and having it help people with disabilities and older people.

Well, there’s definitely no bubble when it comes to what AI can do. And what AI can do is perform miracles and solve fundamental human problems in food production and clean air and clean water. Obviously in healthcare, it’s gonna be overwhelming.

But this was like the internet itself. There was a lot of talk about a bubble, and there actually was a bubble. The difference is that in late 1990s there were basically were no revenue models. Companies were raising a lot of money with no plans for revenue.

These AI companies have significant revenues today, and companies are investing in it.

What I’m more concerned about, honestly, is not Wall Street and a bubble. Others can be concerned about that. I’m concerned about getting enough energy to process all that AI. And at this show, for the first time, we have a Korean company showing the first ever small-scale nuclear-powered energy creation device. We expect more and more of these people rushing to fill this gap because we need the energy, we need it clean and we need a kind of all-of-the-above solution.