Patrick Mahomes is making progress in his rehab assignment, but the Kansas City Chiefs aren't providing a timeline.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid checked in with another update on the rehab status of quarterback Patrick Mahomes as part of his pre-draft media chores, but Reid offered no specific timeline for the quarterback’s return to the field, according to a report by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
The only thing new in this update was the fact that Mahomes is now lifting, as Simmons took his material from a team transcript.
“He goes to meetings, he can lift, do all of that, rehab,” Reid said. “That’s the phase he is in right now, so we will just see — play it by ear and see where he is at.
“He’s doing great, but we just have to be smart with this thing.”
Reid also commented during the spring meetings that the Chiefs would defer to medical experts as Mahomes continues to recover from the ACL/LCL tear that ended his season last year. Mahomes has been pushing hard for an early return so he can start in Week 1, but it’s fair to expect a bit of a tug of war between Mahomes, the Chiefs and his doctors if his return to full mobility goes well.
The Chiefs have done their best to account for all possibilities in this situation as the draft approaches. They engineered a trade with the New York Jets for quarterback Justin Fields to at least run the offense in camp if Mahomes is unavailable, but Reid has also been talking up Fields as more than a gadget player despite his struggles to date.
The Chiefs may also add a quarterback in the draft to compete with Chris Oladokun and at least serve as a camp arm. Oladokun struggled with turnovers late in the season, and the Chiefs have already punted on last year’s backup, Gardner Minshew, as they allowed him to sign with the Arizona Cardinals. That quarterback could be a late draft pick or an undrafted free agent if Reid thinks it’s worth devoting resources to the possibility.
The timeline is likely to stay murky for a while. The next update could occur during OTAs, when Mahomes will work with both teammates and draftees, which would be especially intriguing if the Chiefs draft a wide receiver. The latest rumors have the Chiefs interested in trading up to get the No. 3 pick in the draft, but that trade would almost certainly be to get a top edge rusher based on most of the pre-draft intel.