As to be expected, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker was back to work with his teammates as the club welcomed media for the first open session of organized team activities (OTAs) on Wednesday.

KSHB reporter (and Arrowhead Pride contributor) Aaron Ladd shared video of the kicker during the warmup period .

Butker’s mid-May commencement speech at Benedictine College has recently been a polarizing topic among Chiefs and NFL fans, with some up in arms about his comments while others show signs of support .

Following practice on Wednesday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he hadn’t spoken to Butker about his speech.

“I didn’t think we [needed] to,” said Reid. “We’re a microcosm of life here. Everybody’s from different areas, religions [and] races. We all get along. We all respect each other’s opinions. Not necessarily do we go by those, but we expect everybody to have a voice. That’s the great thing about America, man.”

As he has done in the past, Reid pointed out that NFL teams are made up of people from many different backgrounds, each with a different viewpoint. Those perspectives might not be embraced by everyone in the locker room.

“Everybody’s got their own opinion ? and that’s what’s so great about this country,” added Reid. “You can share those things and you work through it. That’s what guys do.”

During his turn at the podium, quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw support behind Butker as a teammate and person, preferring to separate the man from the viewpoints Mahomes conceded he does not share.

“I know Harrison; I’ve known him for seven years,” said Mahomes. “I judge him by the character that he shows every single day ? and that’s a good person. That’s someone who cares about the people around him, someone that cares about his family, that wants to make a good impact in society.

“When you’re in a locker room, there’s a lot of people from a lot of different areas of life and they have a lot of different views on everything. And we’re not always going to agree.

“There’s certain things that he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person that he is. He’s trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction, and that might not be the same values that I have ? but at the same time, I’m going to judge him by the character that he shows every single day, and that’s a great person.

“We’ll continue to move along and try to help build each other up to make ourselves better every single day ? but at the end of the day, we’re going to come together as a team.”

Asked for specifics on where he and Butker’s views conflict, the quarterback declined to say, instead redirecting back to their day-to-day relationship.

“I know what kind of person he is ? and I’m going to make sure that I look at that first, and then let the other stuff handle itself.”