What Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes enjoys about the grind of training camp
The temperature topped 90 degrees in Kansas City by the time the Chiefs departed the practice field Sunday. At one point, Patrick Mahomes had thrown interceptions on back-to-back plays.
The real grind of August training camp is here, in other words, a far departure from the enjoyment of the sport’s biggest stage on a February evening in Miami or even a Sunday afternoon in the fall at Arrowhead Stadium.
You’d think, anyway.
But for as vexing as one morning might appear, Mahomes doesn’t see it that way. He finds the importance in days like Sunday. Importance in the process. Even as the end goal stands months away.
“I think the biggest thing I enjoy (about training camp) is the challenge of every single day,” Mahomes said. “I think when you’re in training camp, you’re not getting the (defensive) looks that you might expect. You’re not getting the perfect look or the perfect play where you throw it to this guy and we’ve schemed it up perfectly for this. It’s a challenge every single day.”
It’s a challenge that coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense won a couple of times Sunday.
Although tight end Nick Keizer quipped after practice that when the ball leaves Mahomes’ hand, “there’s little sparks and little rainbows around it every time,” it wound up in the wrong hands twice ... on back-to-back plays.
After a receiver slipped, cornerback Rashad Fenton picked off Mahomes. One snap later, rookie L’Jarius Sneed intercepted his pass.
A frustrating sequence at first glance. But a valuable one, too. Mahomes noted that Spagnuolo has stayed fresh and unpredictable in his calls, providing a game-like feel.
“When we have a defensive coordinator like Spags, he’s trying different stuff. He’s trying out different looks,” Mahomes said. “It’s making it challenging for the offense. So for me, it’s about going out there every single day, having your highs, having your lows and having to grind through and try to figure out the best way to try to be better the next day.”
The learning moments in camp take on even greater significance this year. The Chiefs were intended to play their second preseason game Saturday, a circumstance that could have provided the first-string offense a couple of drives against a less familiar opposition, but the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the exhibition schedule.
The competition of camp is all they have. It’s all Mahomes needs, if you ask him. (And offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy reinforced that concept, you might remember, emphasizing Mahomes’ competitiveness in every practice.)
“The only thing that I think you’re missing is just me not getting hit — not getting that first tackle of the season out of the way, and then getting up and having to go through the reps again and making plays happen,” Mahomes said. “Other than that, I think how we run practices — when you have the Honey Badger (safety Tyrann Mathieu) out there yelling and screaming and flying around the field, Frank Clark doing the same, Chris Jones. We’re going the best against the best right here at our practices.
“And I promise you, we’re going hard every single rep, and there’s a lot of fire and passion out there on that field. Other than me personally not getting tackled, not getting that first tackle out of the way, I feel like I’m getting just what I would be getting in a preseason game.”