Patrick Mahomes will stay parked on the sideline again Saturday night, and the Chiefs are sticking with the same preseason script they used a week ago.
When Kansas City visits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and Justin Fields will handle the start before giving way to the rest of the quarterback room. ESPN Chiefs reporter Nate Taylor reported that head coach Andy Reid said Fields is expected to play into the second quarter, just as he did in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams, when Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun followed him.
Reid has already said Mahomes has been cleared for full 11-on-11 work and is on track to start Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, but the Chiefs aren’t using that clearance as a reason to rush him into live preseason action. Mahomes is coming back from a torn ACL and LCL he suffered last December, an injury that helped send Kansas City to its first losing season since 2014. With Denver waiting on the other side of the regular-season opener, the Chiefs clearly see more risk than reward in putting their 30-year-old quarterback back under game pressure before it matters.
Mahomes explained the recovery mindset this week after being cleared for practice. “This is just another checkpoint on the schedule,” he said.
“It’s not like it’s over and I’m just gonna be able to play a game tomorrow. You gotta continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice, prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors and everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before, if not better.”
Kansas City will also hold out Trey Smith, Josh Simmons and Ashton Gillotte on Saturday, another sign that the team is being deliberate with key pieces throughout the preseason.
Fields gets another chance to show what he can do in Reid’s offense after arriving from the New York Jets in March for a sixth-round pick in the 2027 draft. He’s now on his fourth team since being drafted 11th overall in 2021, and the label that’s followed him has been the same at every stop: bust. He was benched partway through last season in New York before the deal sent him to Kansas City.
Accuracy has been the sticking point for Fields, and that hasn’t changed. What has always traveled with him is the run game. His legs have made him one of the most productive rushing quarterbacks of his era, and that’s part of why the Chiefs wanted him in the building - as insurance, as a stabilizer, as someone who can keep an offense moving if Mahomes needs time or if the worst happens again.
Saturday’s game also gives Kansas City another look at a quarterback group still taking shape behind Fields. Nussmeier, a seventh-round pick out of LSU this spring, entered the league with more buzz than most late-round rookies after once being viewed as a first-round talent before an injury-shortened final college season. Reid has praised the way he’s moved the offense during camp.
Oladokun brings the most experience of the backup options. He spent most of last season on the practice squad, then got forced into action when injuries hit Mahomes and Gardner Minshew, eventually starting two games down the stretch. He’ll get another opportunity Saturday to help his standing before final roster cuts.
The Chiefs wrap up the preseason on August 28 against Seattle before trimming to a 53-man roster and turning fully toward the regular-season opener against the Broncos on Monday Night Football, September 14. Mahomes taking a preseason snap before then is still an open question, but nothing about Kansas City’s approach so far suggests the team is eager to change course.
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