Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is now cleared to practice, so he's on schedule in his rehab.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been officially cleared to participate and will not start the season on the PUP list, according to a pair of reports from Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Coach Andy Reid made his announcement in his press conference today, saying that Mahomes has been fully cleared to practice.
“Pat’s doing great with his [rehab],” Reid said. “Right now he’s got clearance to practice and do all the different periods that we have in this camp. We’ll just take it day by day and see how he does. He’ll have plenty of eyes on him from coaches to trainers to doctors.
“But right now, he’s been cleared to go ahead and participate fully.”
The inevitable question followed about whether Mahomes would be playing in Week 1, and Reid provided the obligatory non-answer.
“I’m optimistic, and I know he is extremely optimistic,” Reid said. “But I think you’ve got to see how things go here. Let’s just see where we’re at and not make any predictions or anything else. Take it day by day and see where it goes.”
The coach also noted that Mahomes will go through his normal reps at the start of camp. Quarterbacks and rookies reported today, with the rest of the squad scheduled to report on July 28, but Reid doesn’t expect Mahomes’ reps will be any different in training camp.
“We’ll see about games and all that once we get there. But right now, we’re just going to take it day by day and see how he does,” Reid said. “But he’s been given clearance.
“He’s been up here every day, doing his thing, rehabbing. I mentioned before how much time he spent — if anybody spent time doing this thing the right way, he’s it. We appreciate that. And he’s been given clearance by the doctors to work. And they’re pretty comfortable with that. But keeping an eye on him.”
Mahomes, meanwhile, knew he’d been cleared two days ago, but he sees this as a checkpoint in his ongoing schedule.
“Just looking at the dates, and there were certain checkpoints I had to get to, to get to this point,” Mahomes said. “And this is just another checkpoint on the schedule.
“So you have to continue to work. It’s not like it’s over and I’m going to be able to play a game tomorrow. You’ve got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice and prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors, everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before — if not better — and I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games.”
Mahomes did say he’s doing better at changing directions than he was during the offseason program, so the next step for him is to be able to run the offense properly.
“That’s the stuff I had to prove to the doctors and the coaches and everybody like that to be at this point,” Mahomes said. “So, it’s a long process. The process isn’t over. It’ll be something I’ll probably deal with for the next few years of my career and throughout the rest of my career. But you have to stay on top of that stuff. But I feel comfortable now of being able to go out there and run the offense the way the offense is supposed to be run.”
He also wants Reid to push him hard in training camp so that he can go full out in September knowing he’s been through the rigors of quarterbacking already. He also mentioned rehab fatigue, which happens to just about every player with this kind of injury.
“I’m excited just to be able to play football,” Mahomes said. “I’ve been seeing cinderblock walls rehabbing every day in Kansas City. So, now to get to be on the practice field with my teammates and my brothers, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
