Patrick Mahomes fans, get ready — the Kansas City Chiefs will be on the field tonight! They’ll take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in their first preseason game on Saturday at the EverBank Stadium.
While some teams rest their starters in early preseason action, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is excited about testing out his team early in the season and setting the tone for becoming the Super Bowl champion for the third time in a row.
When fans hear that Kansas City is about to set foot on the football field, the first question that pops into their head is “Is Patrick Mahomes playing tonight?” The QB superstar was the fourth-best player in the NFL Top 100 rankings heading into 2024.
While the game is about evaluating the roster, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid had much to say about Mahomes and his availability against the Jaguars.
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Mahomes is set to make his preseason debut this Saturday as the Chiefs take on Doug Pederson’s team, marking the first glimpse of the Super Bowl 58 champs since their victory over the San Francisco 49ers in January.
Reid has confirmed that Mahomes will take the field for the first quarter, continuing his bold tradition of giving his stars preseason minutes — a practice not all NFL coaches follow. His approach is all about getting his players into the rhythm of game-day action.
“As far as the play time for this game, we’ll go the ones for a quarter, twos for the second quarter, threes the third quarter, and fours for the fourth quarter, and we’ll just keep it at that,” Reid said.
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This philosophy has seen Mahomes make multiple preseason appearances throughout his career, averaging around 10 pass attempts per start. This indicates what to expect and allows the team to fine-tune its strategies against live competition. Mahomes is eager for the challenge of facing an opposing defense rather than his own during practice.
“You want to go out there and play for real, and play against someone else,” Mahomes said. “I’m tired of going against [Steve Spagnuolo] and every defense known to man.”
This will be Mahomes’ eighth season in the NFL, being drafted as the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft after playing for the Texas Tech Red Raiders for three seasons (2014-2016). The Texas native remains a strong advocate for preseason play.
“I like playing in the preseason, honestly,” Mahomes shared with the media on Wednesday. “Getting in there, trying to make sure that we’re doing stuff the right way, and then getting out, trying to keep everybody healthy.”
With Reid’s confidence and Mahomes’ enthusiasm, the Chiefs are ready to kick off their preseason with a bang, setting the stage for what could be another championship run.