How long will Chiefs’ starters, Patrick Mahomes play Friday?
Patrick Mahomes will have a little more time to get comfortable at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday.
Coach Andy Reid said Mahomes and the other Chiefs starters will play for the entire first half of the second preseason game, while the second string will take over in the third quarter. The third string is expected to play the fourth.
In the first preseason game, the first-string offense got just nine snaps in one quarter of work, and Mahomes never really seemed settled as the offensive line struggled to maintain his protection.
This time around, he’ll have more room to get into a groove.
“You get to go out there and have a little bit more time, hopefully get into a rhythm and get some scoring drives,” Mahomes said. “That’s something we didn’t have last week with the first-team offense, so you want to go out there and score. At the same time, as I’ve said all camp, you want to be efficient, you get in and out of the huddle, you make the right checks at the line, you get the right protection calls and hopefully just have a positive game.”
With right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif in the concussion protocol, Andrew Wylie is likely to get the start on the offensive line.
Reid didn’t have much of an update about the availability of injured players or players who missed last week’s game against the Texans like ILB Reggie Ragland, ILB Anthony Hitchens and S Leon McQuay.
“We’ll just see how it goes here,” Reid said. “We’ve got a few days here. We’ll see how they do.”
Injury tent
There was a new face in the (mostly) dry injury tent Tuesday morning.
Defensive lineman Allen Bailey missed practice with a sore knee, which Reid said happened when Bailey banged knees with someone on Monday.
Safety Eric Berry was still missing from camp with a sore heel, while Duvernay-Tardif was also out of sight as he works through the league’s concussion protocol.
Running back Damien Williams (shoulder), CB Keith Reaser (quad strain) and C Jimmy Murray (sore knee) also didn’t practice. Recovering from a concussion, running back Charcandrick West was a partial participant.
New faces?
The Chiefs’ reportedly aren’t wasting any time with newly available cornerback Orlando Scandrick.
According to an NFL Network report, the Chiefs are the first team to bring in the former Washington defensive back, flying him in Tuesday night.
Scandrick, who played for the Cowboys from 2008-2017, was released by Washington on Tuesday afternoon. He signed a two-year deal with the organization earlier this summer and earned a $1 million signing bonus.
The 31-year-old defensive back hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2013, missing time in each year since then with injury.
The Chiefs’ new running back Ray Lawry was spotted at practice Tuesday morning. Lawry, a rookie from Old Dominion, was most recently cut by the Bengals.
While at ODU, Lawry rushed for 4,080 yards and 45 touchdowns.
Mahomes has flashback
After practicing in sunny and dry conditions throughout training camp, the sky opened up Tuesday morning, and it didn’t let up for the duration of the Chiefs’ final St. Joseph workout.
The rain came down in sheets, sometimes falling so hard that pooled on the field and seemed to drown out conversations. By the end of it, more than an inch fell during practice.
The Chiefs made the best of the soggy conditions, running through light team drills without full pads. Tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill even stretched out, face down on the field and did modified rain angels in the puddles.
Mahomes completed 17 of 18 passes, the lone incompletion coming on a drop from wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
For Mahomes, the heavy rain brought him back to his days practicing outside at Texas Tech.
“We didn’t have an indoor facility, so if it rained there we still practiced outside,” Mahomes said. “They have the indoor now, of course. When I was there, there was no indoor so I think sophomore year we had a pretty good rain. It was pretty tough today.”
Though Friday’s preseason game will be in Atlanta’s indoor stadium, outside elements will likely factor into another game down the line, and Tuesday’s practice was the perfect time for the team to prepare.
“This is a great day,” Reid said. “As long as there is not lightning out, it gives the quarterbacks and receivers an opportunity with the wet ball. It gives the long snapper, the holder and the kicker an opportunity, or punter in this case today, an opportunity to work with it. Defensive backs focusing in on the ball and catching a wet ball without having to dunk it in a bucket of water or anything. It is all natural here.”
Service members make the ‘rain shine’ at final practice
The gross weather conditions kept most of the fans away from the practice fields at Missouri Western State on Tuesday, but it didn’t dampen the Chiefs’ annual Military Appreciation Day.
Service members from all four branches came out to St. Joseph to watch the final practice and flooded the field afterward for a chance to meet the players and coaches.
“Great to have the military out here today,” Reid said. “Wish we could’ve had a better day. But they made it good. They made the rain shine today. It was great having them here.
“They bring great spirit with them. I love seeing our players with them. Our players love intermingling and talking with them and taking pictures and autographs. We did the best we could with a waterproof pen. It was a good day.”
For Captain Ronald Riggi of Leavenworth, the day was especially special for his wife Courtney.
“My wife born and raised in Kansas, a lifelong Chiefs fan, she’s in awe,” he said. “She tried to run on the field when Sherman came out, a big Anthony Sherman fan.”
Rain or shine, It’s also a special day for the children of military members.
“This event, getting out here on the field with the guys, I like to see the players interact with the kids,” Riggi said. “These guys are larger than life to the kids. They’ll talk about it in school to all their buddies.”
Quote of the day
Andy Reid on the end of training camp:
“It’s a little bit like being a farmer. The work is never done. We still have a lot of work to do, but I appreciated the effort and the things that we did get done, the improvement of the young guys here.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 3:56 PM.