How much time will Patrick Mahomes play in the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints?
On Friday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid stated that all of his QBs - including Patrick Mahomes - would play a quarter in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Saints.
With preparation for the coming NFL season now well and truly underway, it’s time for preseason games and with that, we’ll be getting a look at rookies trying to make their name, veterans trying to maintain theirs, and stars trying to keep shining. The Super Bowl champions are no different.
Patrick Mahomes to play on Sunday in New Orleans
According to comments from Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid on Friday, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes will in fact be in the lineup when the team takes on the New Orleans Saints in their preseason opener this Sunday. With most teams in the league normally opting to rest their starters, it’s interesting to note that Reid has once again done the opposite by confirming that they will play a few minutes. This is of course in keeping with Reid’s traditional approach when considering that Mahomes featured in two of three preseason games last year.
Of course, it’s safe to assume that Mahomes won’t play for an extended period of time on Sunday. Indeed, Reid made it clear that his starter would play just one quarter in the coming contest, but that’s something that Mahomes himself already seems to be relishing. “I always say that first hit, you want to get hit where it’s not too hard, but you can feel it,” Mahomes said on Friday. “You go through a long offseason of working through the pocket and knowing the guys are rushing, but they can’t touch you, so it’s just different when you get in the game and you’re able to get tackled and everything like that. I like to have at least one or two drives under my belt to say that I’m ready to go [and] we’re doing the right things. Coach Reid, he allows me to do that.”
Is this the right choice for the Chiefs?
As the saying goes, ‘The proof is in the pudding’, and that’s to say that by now it should be clear that there is a recipe for success in Kansas City. Consider for a moment that Mahomes threw a league-high 5,250 yards for 41 touchdowns last season, in what was his sixth campaign with the Chiefs. Needless to say, the eventual Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles only serves to punctuate the point. The defending Super Bowl champions will start their season against the Detroit Lions on September 7th, and something tells us they’re going to be ready to go when they do.