ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- After becoming a free agent early this year, veteran tight end Gavin Escobar was happy to hear from his agent that the Kansas City Chiefs had called and were interested in signing him to a contract.

“I like how tight-end friendly [the Kansas City offense] is,’’ said Escobar, who eventually signed with the Chiefs. “That’s for sure. We use a lot of multiple tight end sets, and they throw it to us, too. They move us around a lot, so we’re in good positions [to make plays].’’

The Chiefs indeed do keep their tight ends busy. They used three tight ends on 126 plays last season, fourth highest in the NFL. Judging from what they’ve done at training camp, the Chiefs appear ready to employ their three-tight-end formations frequently again this season.

Gavin Escobar departed Dallas for Kansas City in large part to play a bigger role in a TE-friendly offense. Rodger Mallison/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

They practiced on Friday without their starting tight end, Travis Kelce, who was experiencing some swelling in a knee that had been surgically repaired early in his career. Kelce’s absence meant plenty of work for Escobar and the other top backups, Demetrius Harris and Ross Travis.

Kelce will again get a huge share of the passes thrown toward tight ends this season. But the Chiefs will be disappointed if their tight ends don’t provide more receptions than they did last season. Harris caught 17 passes, Travis three and the since-departed James O’Shaughnessy two.

Escobar could figure prominently in the Chiefs’ plans this year if he makes many catches like the one he did in the end zone on Friday, when he tipped the pass to himself and then made the grab.

Escobar wasn’t a prolific pass-catcher in his four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He caught just 30 passes, though eight went for touchdowns, in limited playing time. Dallas’ main tight end was Jason Witten.

“Coming out of college, receiving is what I did most of,’’ Escobar said. “In Dallas, you definitely had to be able to run-block first in order to see the field. It’s just a different offense. They definitely use more multiple tight end sets here.’’

Neither Harris nor Travis played football in college. Each was a basketball player, Harris at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Travis at Penn State.

Now in his fifth year with the Chiefs, counting one on the practice squad, Harris hasn’t been able to establish himself as a consistent receiving threat. But he has had some clutch catches, including the tying two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter of last year’s overtime win over the Denver Broncos.

He also caught what would have been the tying two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter of last year’s playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the play was wiped out by a penalty.

Until the preseason last year, Travis hadn’t played a football game since he was a freshman in high school in Minnesota. So he’s still learning on the job.

“Every day there is something new that he sees,’’ coach Andy Reid said. “So he will work through that, then better himself. It is important he just keeps that attitude.”

Despite Travis’ inexperience, the Chiefs were hopeful he would be a significant contributor to their passing game last season, but he played in just six games.

“The transition has been tough, but I kept plugging along, kept grinding, had a short-term memory,’’ Travis said. “That’s not the player I want to be, but I know the direction I’m going in and that’s what I keep in mind when I’m working.”