‘Don’t do that, Pat.’ Teammates ask Mahomes to play it safe, but that’s not in his DNA
The scramble unfolded as only a Patrick Mahomes maneuver would. He spun out of the pocket to his left, darted back right and split a gap up the middle of the field.
He moved past the line of scrimmage. Five yards. And then eight.
And then.
Bang.
As Mahomes dove just shy of the first-down marker, he absorbed a helmet to the rib cage from a defender running full speed. In a split-second decision, the incumbent Most Valuable Player in pro football prompted a Chiefs fanbase to elicit messages of panic across social media.
“I wanted to run and get the first down and go for it,” Mahomes explained with a tone resembling a shoulder shrug.
Here is when we should probably mention one small detail about this play: It came during a preseason game. Fighting for an outcome that counts absolutely nothing toward the standings. Nothing in the mathematics of the chase for a Super Bowl.
Yet it reveals plenty about the personality of the Chiefs’ 24-year-old quarterback. While his preparation and intellect are both well-documented, the game so often calls for instinct. With Mahomes, that derives from a natural competitiveness.
Absent an off-switch.
‘Let somebody else handle that’
Immediately after a football squirted free last weekend in Detroit, Mahomes took off after it. Never thought twice of it. Defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson had scooped up a fumble from running back Darrel Williams, and Robinson began barreling the opposite way.
Mahomes chased in pursuit. He stood toe-to-toe with Robinson, trying to strip the football from his blindside.
Robinson is listed at 330 pounds.
“He’s tough. Guys like Patrick Mahomes, they don’t want to lose,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “I mean you applaud it as teammates. You love it. If your quarterback is physical, then we should all be physical.”
An ever so slight pause from Mathieu.
“But don’t do that. Don’t do that no more, Pat.”
Some would prefer he play in bubble wrap, but Mahomes is unafraid to place himself in the middle of the action, whenever it might come. Teammates know that’s part of his DNA. They respect that.
The Chiefs aren’t looking to subtract that element of his personality, either. Why have your quarterback play with fear? Mahomes’ desire to make every play is part of what makes him unique. Part of what makes him great. Part of what prompted him to will the Chiefs to a game-winning drive last weekend against the Lions.
Whatever means necessary.
“He’s got pretty good judgment,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I don’t really worry too much about that. He’s going to play the game.”
After a different preseason entanglement, Reid joked, “That’s why you take him out of the game.” But on Sunday, no coaches sought out Mahomes after he sprinted toward a defensive lineman who outweighed him by more than 100 pounds. It wasn’t mentioned in the quarterback film room either, backup Matt Moore said. The play was more calculated, Mahomes insisting he noticed Robinson wasn’t looking his way.
But the guys on the other side of the football noticed. Days later, when asked about the play, defensive lineman Chris Jones turned to the camera, as if addressing Mahomes personally, and smiled.
“Patrick, relax. Get down. Let somebody else handle that.”
Jones continued, “I love Pat. But we need him around for the rest of the season. We don’t need him getting hurt trying to tackle a (defensive) tackle or a defensive lineman, OK? So that’s my best advice: Pat, get down. Let someone else go out there and wrap him up.”
Some quarterbacks shy away from contact whenever possible. Future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning rarely chased after an interception. He even gave himself up in the pocket on occasion, sensing a sack on the way. The most valuable commodity in the league simply wanted to stay of harm’s way.
Sure, quarterbacks are going to get hit. It’s football at the highest level, and hits are inevitable.
On some plays.
On others?
“If you catch an interception, and we see the quarterback, we want that,” Mathieu said. “Everybody is turning and looking for the quarterback.”
Tranquility is not Mahomes’ nature. On a run-pass option look in Detroit, Mahomes seemed to have an avenue to hand the ball to running back LeSean McCoy for a first down, but he instead kept the ball himself on the third-down call and took it up the middle of the field.
“He’s just playing ball,” Moore said.
Moore has experienced the worst of it. While starting for the Dolphins, he ran a screen pass against the San Francisco 49ers. He and the running back weren’t quite on the same page, and his pass landed in the chest of a defensive end.
Moore became the last man to beat. He went for the tackle.
The lineman plowed over him.
And scored.
“It happens, but you’ve got to play the game,” Moore said. “You’re reacting to the game. Obviously something bad happened, and you’re trying not to make it worse, so you have to do your best to finish the play.”
The slide
Mahomes’ father, a former Major League Baseball player, once told him he is “the worst sliding baseball player he’s ever met.”
Truth be told, Mahomes would prefer not to do it. He’d prefer to put his head down and fight the extra yard or two.
But reluctantly, he’s learning. Trying to be smart about it.
In the home opener against Baltimore in Week 3, Mahomes found himself as the lead blocker for wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who had unexpectedly reversed field on a swing pass.
By choice.
Mahomes could have stayed in the backfield. Instead, he charged ahead, prepared to disrupt a defender’s path.
And then he thought better of it. As Hardman sprinted behind him and the defenders neared, Mahomes slid along the grass in open space, taking himself out of the play. Hardman later said he was thinking, “Yeah, go ahead and get out of the way.” He just didn’t verbalize it at the time.
Others did.
They’re always watching.
“When we all saw Pat running, we’re yelling, ‘Get out of the way!’” Mathieu said. “Goodness gracious, get out of the way. But we know that’s who Pat is.”