The Kansas City Chiefs are still holding the line on Patrick Mahomes.
As Week 1 against the Denver Broncos on Monday night, Sept. 14, gets closer, the team isn’t offering any firm answer on whether the quarterback will be ready to go. That uncertainty remains the biggest storyline around Kansas City, even after a training camp in which Mahomes handled every rep he was supposed to take.
Mahomes has been on the field throughout camp and, by all appearances, has moved through the summer exactly the way the Chiefs wanted after the torn ACL and LCL. But when the team returned to work Monday at its facility at the Truman Sports Complex, the message around his availability was still the same: wait and see.
“He’s doing great,” head coach Andy Reid said. “We’ll just see.
I’m literally taking it day by day. There are no predictions here on anything.
But if the doctors and the trainers and everybody that are involved with this give him an OK - and then most of all, if he feels like he can, then we’ll address that when we get there.
“But other than that, these other guys are playing quarterback and doing a nice job with it.”
Mahomes has not played in either preseason game. Justin Fields, the veteran backup, has started both, while rookie Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun have also gotten work.
Over the weekend, Mahomes said during KSHB 41’s broadcast of Kansas City’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he had wanted to play, but the team would not let him.
Reid didn’t sound surprised by that.
“Yeah, he wants to play every weekend,” Reid said in response Monday.
Asked whether Mahomes had actually been cleared by doctors, Reid kept it short.
“Yeah, you know,” Reid said. “Probably not cleared enough.”
In Other News...
Chiefs Already Seem Ready To Move On From These Bubble Players
With roster cutdown day approaching, the Chiefs are already sorting out the bottom of the depth chart, and a few names have separated themselves from the pack in an unfortunate way. Mason Pline, Jeff Weimer, Damon Payne, Chris Oladokun and Kaiir Elam all look like players who may not survive the move from a 90-man roster to the final 53, with preseason performance and the teams current depth working against them.
For Kansas City, this part of August is as much about clarity as it is competition. The front office has plenty of decisions left to make, but these bubble spots are becoming easier to read, and the result may be a roster that keeps the more established pieces while moving on from players who simply have not done enough to force a harder conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Backfield Faces Early Concern After Kenneth Walker Setback
Kansas Citys backfield has hit an early snag with Kenneth Walker III sidelined by a foot injury that surfaced recently. Walker had been taking part in some plays and practices before this setback, giving the Chiefs at least a glimpse of how he might fit as the team continued its preseason work and sorted through its running back options.
The lack of practice time is one thing, but the bigger issue is the uncertainty around how long this will linger. The Chiefs have not offered any further detail on the injurys severity, leaving Walkers status up in the air as the club moves closer to the start of the season and waits to see whether this is only a short-term pause or something more concerning. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Preseason Battles Are Creating More Roster Pressure Than Expected
Kansas Citys preseason has started to sharpen a few roster questions the Chiefs probably hoped would stay quiet deeper into camp. Undrafted rookie Kahlil Benson has had a rough stretch in recent games, giving up pressures and even a strip sack, while Fields, once viewed as a top overall draft pick, still has not shown much meaningful progress after also taking a costly sack in a recent game.
The ripple effect is showing up elsewhere, too, with tight end Watson sliding behind Jake Briningstool on the depth chart as the competition tightens. For a team that usually uses August to sort out the edges of the roster rather than create new uncertainty, the late-summer picture is starting to look a little more crowded than expected, and Watson could be headed toward the practice squad if the current trend holds. [Read more 🡒]