RIVER FALLS, WIS. ? After the first day of training camp, Chiefs running back Priest Holmes said he was confident he would regain the form that made him one of the NFL’s top players during the past two seasons.

Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil certainly liked what he saw Sunday from his standout running back.

“I was really pleased,” Vermeil said. “All the speculation was more speculation than fact. I thought he looked very good. I watched to see if he favored anything or showed any signs and didn’t see anything different.”

Holmes said his priority during training camp was to prove that he had overcome the hip injury that sidelined him in December for the rest of last season. If he can do that, Holmes said, then his other major concern — getting a contract extension — should take care of itself.

“I feel like $15 million, but I just don’t have the paycheck,” he said. “It’s not going to become an issue, because of the fact that (general manager Carl) Peterson has made it very clear how he stands with everything we’re doing. It’s one of those things that will be a mutual understanding.”

Holmes is in the third year of a five-year, $8 million contract he signed in 2001. He is seeking an extension that would include a hefty signing bonus, and possibly allow him to retire as a Chief.

Peterson has been adamant that there will be no new contract, though an extension is possible depending on the running back’s health. Holmes indicated on a Kansas City radio talk show last week that if the contract issues aren’t settled by the season opener, he might sit it out.

Holmes said Sunday there is no timetable to get a new deal done.

“We have plenty of time,” he said. “There’s so much work to get done before that time. Really, it was just a matter of getting all 91 guys here and we have everyone in camp.”

Any thoughts he might have had about sitting out training camp were whisked away by the signing of Kansas City’s first-round draft pick, running back Larry Johnson.

“I can’t believe that Larry Johnson signed so early,” Holmes said. “Most people say, ‘What is he, crazy? He’s supposed to wait for the one in front of him and the one behind him to sign.’ But at the same time, it says a lot about him. He wants to get out here and get working, so for me to say, ‘hey, I’m not going to camp,’ is not even a situation.”

Vermeil said the first practice showed him that the players’ hard work during minicamp and in the offseason was paying off.

“We had almost no mistakes, no illegal procedures, no quarterback-center exchange problems, no jumping offside, none of that stuff in the very first practice,” he said. “I think that’s a reflection of their concentration in the offseason.”