Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he felt good enough to play in a game following practice on Thursday. The 25-year-old is still rehabbing from off-season surgery that corrected a turf toe he suffered during the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs last season.
It’s safe to say Mahomes is continuing to stay ahead of schedule in his recovery. In Head Coach Andy Reid’s words, Mahomes has gone from being able to do “some stuff”, to being a “full go” during OTAs, and now feels good enough to play in an actual game.
“If there was a game, I would be able to play in it, I think,” he told the media via Zoom conference call following Thursday’s OTA practice. “At the end of the day, there’s still some stuff I’m going to have to work through; I’m going to have to continue to rehab and continue to keep strengthening that stuff, but it’s good to be able to get out there a little earlier than the schedule had me and be able to get some work in.”
Going into his fifth season, Mahomes is taking on a new role in OTAs than in previous years. When he first entered the NFL, Mahomes recalled the offensive line at the time, helping him get familiar with Andy Reid’s system. Now with a projected four new blockers to make up the Chiefs’ o-line in 2021, Mahomes is enjoying the opportunity of teaching them.
“When I first came into the league, I had a lot of veteran guys with Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz, and Mitch Morse — all these guys that were helping me when I was at the line of scrimmage,” said Mahomes, “Helping me communicate and get us all on the same page and then to be able now to have a new group of guys that obviously are extremely intelligent and know how to play the game of football and stuff like that, but to show how I communicate and how I do things at the line of scrimmage and our build that chemistry again. I think it’s really cool and it’s just going to really help us in the long run as we continue to learn from each other and learn how each other thinks while we’re out there on the field.”
Mahomes is also enjoying the opportunity to experiment with different concepts and ideas during OTAs, which isn’t typically done during training camp.
“The biggest thing is you get to experiment a little bit more,” said Mahomes. “When you get to training camp, you kind of have to be refined and refining things because you’re trying to get ready for the season against different teams and different defenses and stuff like that. That’s a big part of why we came in to do the OTAs,” he explained. “I know they are voluntary and everything like that, but we’re able to experiment and not go extremely hard but still be able to get some good work in and get the guys together, build that chemistry, and be a part of the team.”
As Mahomes moves further into his rehab and continues to remain ahead of schedule, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect him to be fully healed by the start of training camp in late July.
Andy Reid has done his due diligence in making sure his quarterback isn’t given more than he can handle, but that may not be a concern if he’s already willing to play a game at full speed.
