The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off of the most disappointing season of the Patrick Mahomes era. Not only did Kansas City fail to make the playoffs for the first time since drafting Mahomes out of Texas Tech, but his season was cut short by a brutal ACL injury.
The Chiefs are looking to get things back on track this season, and Mahomes has been attacking his recovery hard, but with so much uncertainty around whether he’d be ready to go by the start of the season, the Chiefs added veteran Justin Fields to the quarterback room over the offseason as a contingency plan.
However, on Tuesday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced in his Tuesday video conference the team’s decision on how to proceed regarding who the starting quarterback will be for Week 1.
“Pretty good chance Patrick will go ahead and start, unless something were to come up here in the next couple days,” Reid said, per Pro Football Talk. “But, most likely, he’ll be the guy that’s out there.”
Mahomes didn’t play in the preseason, but he was a participant in training camp and didn’t spend any time on the physically unable to perform list.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s shown everything there. He hasn’t missed a day, as you know,” Reid added. “You guys have seen him out there, so you know what it looks like, him running around and doing his stuff.
“Other than having a brace on his leg, everything looks normal. He’s running around the same way he’s always done and throwing the ball like he’s always done. So, I think we’ll be fine there.”
Unfortunately for Mahomes, he’ll likely have to make do without his starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, as Simmons works his way back from a back injury.
“There’s a good chance Josh doesn’t play this week,” Reid said. “That’s where we’re at. So, we have that in our mind and I mean, he has an issue there that he’s working through. I’m not putting any time restraint on when he could come back, or when he could practice or how many practices he needs, and all that. I just want to make sure he’s healthy and OK to go. But other than that, we move forward.”
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.