Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been making steady progress, but that doesn't mean preseason work.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been getting a series of positive reports on the rehab progress of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which is raising the obvious question of whether Mahomes will play in the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to test his surgically-repaired left knee in live action.
Coach Andy Reid addressed the subject in training camp today, and it sounds like he’s leaning against the possibility, according to a camp update from Nate Taylor of ESPN, with Reid’s comments also picked up by multiple other outlets.
"I mean, there's a pretty good chance where I don't play him," Reid said of Mahomes, who had surgery in December to repair the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. "[The] percentages are leading that way. I don't know if I'll play him in the second or third game. I don't know that. The percentages probably lean against not doing that."
Expect Mahomes to push back on this, but not in a serious or meaningful way. He’s led the first-team offense in every 11-on-11 period, showing his trademark accuracy and even what Taylor called improvements with his deep throws, with most of them targeting receiver Tyquan Thornton.
Mahomes has also been rolling out or even scrambling in every practice to show his mobility and ability to change directions when necessary.
The quarterback does understand the situation, though. Mahomes has consistently stated that his target date is Sept. 14, which is when the Chiefs open at home against the Denver Broncos on Monday night football.
"I'm a competitor, so [on] game day, I'm going to want to be out there," Mahomes said two weeks ago about the preseason. "But I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important. We'll see. The coaches and doctors will make that decision for me, but I'll prepare myself like I'm going to play."
Reid put a punctuation mark on his intentions by trotting out backup quarterback Justin Fields with the first-teamers for the first time in camp, and he also used Fields a prop to back up his decision.
Fields has been the forgotten man so far in OTAs, minicamp and training camp, which is definitely a good thing as far as Chiefs fans are concerned given reports about Fields’ accuracy issues in minicamp.
"We've got new people behind [Mahomes] that need some work," Reid said, referencing Fields and rookie Garrett Nussmeier. "The more reps they get, the better."
