Louis Rees-Zammit opens up on first practice sessions with the Chiefs

Louis Rees-Zammit has opened up on his first practice sessions with the Kansas City Chiefs, as Andy Reid offered an early verdict on the ex-rugby star.

Speaking at a press conference after completing the Chiefs' three-day rookie camp on Monday, the 23-year-old Welshman drew similarities between American football and rugby following his first impressions of the new sport he now plays. 

'When there's open field, I feel like I'm playing rugby,' Rees-Zammit said. 'I can use my awareness when I am in space. Then that's when I can cause the most damage.'

Rees-Zammit was practicing for the first time since singing with the Chiefs in March. He also joined a group of Chiefs player working out with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Texas in April. 

The Chiefs plan to deploy the former international rugby star as a running back and kickoff returner. 

'Pretty good week,' Rees-Zammit said of the three-day camp. 'It was great to meet all the boys, great to dive deep into the playbook. ... It definitely helped doing rookie minicamp, get reps. The way I learn is actually doing the reps, so it was a great three days.

'[American football] is completely different,' he continued. 

'Rugby is very free-flowing unless you get a set piece. That's when you call a play. So there's probably 20 to 30 plays a game, whereas here you're talking hundreds. So it's been interesting to learn a playbook.' 

Rees-Zammit is in the process of tweaking a few habits that still follow him from his days of playing rugby, as he tends to run more upright and carry the ball higher than a typical running back. 

'This was good for him,' Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. 'This gave him an opportunity to really jump in and learn and he's so diligent with everything and wants to be good at everything and I've appreciated that. You could see the progress he's made. You saw yesterday with the long run he had on the screen. 

'He's done a good job of working on holding the ball. They do hold it a little bit differently and it's not quite as pointy as a football, so he's done a good job with that and he'll learn the pad level the first time he gets hit.' 

Rees-Zammit revealed that he's been a football of American football since he way a child. He regularly attended annual NFL games in London over the years. He would also inspire his game off former wide receive DeSean Jackson, who he names as his favorite player. 

He said that he wanted to give the NFL a try because he has been involved in every  competition that he set out to play in as a rugby player. 

'I've been put in the running back group to start with [but] I think it's going to be a versatile role for me,' Rees-Zammit said. 'I'm hoping the coaches are very creative here.

'... It's all about me learning the playbook and learning the game because without that I can't do anything else. I'm fully focused on, ''I've got to make the team. How am I going to do that?'' I've got to perform on the field, I've got to live by the playbook and then we'll go from there.'