Kansas City, Mo. ? Will Shields, Kansas City’s 10-time Pro Bowl guard who has been slowed all summer by a nagging back problem, went through a full practice Wednesday and says he’s ready for his 13th season.

Shields did not work at all during Kansas City’s three-week camp in River Falls, Wis., and coach Dick Vermeil admitted he was concerned.

“It went OK. I can’t complain,” Shields said. “I was out there, I was in pads, and I finished practice.”

The back has caused him problems for some time, he said, but did not become particularly painful until this summer. He said he was not contemplating retirement.

“I told you I’m going to play. I’m going to play, and that’s the way it goes,” he said. “You can contemplate anything you want to. I’ve got the next couple of weeks and go from there.”

Shields, drafted in the third round out of Nebraska in 1993, has played in 192 regular-season games. With 12 more games, he will pass Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud for second on the Chiefs’ all-time service chart. His 10 consecutive Pro Bowls is the longest such streak in the NFL.

Doctors are having him do specific exercises to strengthen the back.

“It’s different kinds of strengthening things,” he said. “Some things that are more specific to strengthen the things around your back, things you don’t think about. I’m just going to see how I feel after today’s practice.”

He’s also hoping that when he does retire, probably after this season, his back will not become a chronic problem.

“For any athlete, you never can tell what’s going to happen four years, five years down the road,” Shields said. “A lot of guys, after you get done, you gain a little more weight, and that creates more back problems, more knee issues.

“Then some guys just walk away and feel great. They lose 50 or 60 pounds. Hopefully I can join that group and not the other group.”

Shields will make his first preseason appearance Saturday night against Seattle. His presence will be reassuring for an offense that has struggled to find its rhythm the first two exhibition games.