Last Saturday, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed caution when speaking to the point that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is on track to return to the field in some capacity for organized-team activities (OTAs) in roughly three weeks.
That caution is likely felt by all at the top of the organization, but not the signal caller himself. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport provided a perspective to consider from that of a two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback who has never missed
extended time as a professional athlete due to injury.
“Patrick Mahomes being on the field for OTA is, I think, good,” Rapoport began during an episode of “The Insiders” on NFL Network. “But in the grand scheme of things, really, what this is about is making sure the franchise quarterback is happy and engaged.”
“Mahomes wants to be on the field,” Rapoport continued. “The Chiefs have a very, very good medical staff; they’re going to make sure he’s not in harm’s way. But when you go through rehab, it’s something that’s so bad, and so strenuous and so lonely, you know that what Patrick Mahomes was looking forward to was just being able to play football.
“It seems like the Chiefs are going to allow him to do that,” Rapoport went on. “I don’t expect it to be very much. I don’t expect it to put him in harm’s way.”
As Reid alluded to last Saturday, there are rules surrounding the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list that Kansas City must consider with Mahomes participating in practices. OTAs take place in two three-day stretches, and then the team waits a week before conducting its mandatory minicamp for another three days.
The amount of work Mahomes does in that time may be hard to gauge from an external point of view, but it will be important for his psyche regardless.
It will also be important for spectators to consider all of this when the team travels to Saint Joseph, Missouri to officially begin the 2026 preseason.
“When we get to training camp, this should be an instructor for us,” Rapoport warned. “Even if Mahomes is on the field to begin training camp, let’s say in late July or early August, it doesn’t mean he’s going to be full go. They’re going to take him slowly through this process while also noting they want Patrick Mahomes to be healthy and in the right frame of mind, and to get there, he’s got to play, like, a little bit of football.”
