Patrick Mahomes on how his informal camp for Chiefs’ pass-catchers in Texas came to be
Phase I of the Chiefs’ offseason workout program began Monday, and it’s voluntary. For players who take part, NFL teams can only ask that they spend two hours at a team facility.
Many of the Chiefs players are not in Kansas City, notably quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
That’s because Mahomes organized an informal camp of sorts in Texas. He’s been able to throw to new Chiefs receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Corey Coleman, while continuing to work with pass-catchers who are returning.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was pleased to see the teammates gathering to work together.
“Pat organized some guys that are down in Texas with him and they’re throwing,” Reid said Monday in a call with reporters. “A couple new receivers that we have are down there with him, along with the rest of the skill players, new running backs, etc. It’s moving in a positive direction.”
Mahomes, who also spoke with the media, was asked how he organized the quasi camp.
“It kind of started off where I was going to have some guys anyways come run routes and do stuff like that before OTAs started,” Mahomes said. “And then as I talked to Coach Reid and EB (offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy), they informed me if you want to get everybody down there then we can do things virtual these first few weeks and kind of keep everybody together.”
Mahomes said the time in Texas with teammates was beneficial for more than just the football side of things.
“You’re off the field, I’m going to lunch with these guys, I’m working out with these guys as well, not just throwing. So you can build those relationships that way,” Mahomes said. “Plus, we’re in a little warmer weather than KC is right now.
“It was a thing where we were going to have to work anyway and get off the field so we decided as long as we were in Texas working together, the coaches said we could do it virtually and still get the learning that we need. It evolves from the trust that they have in us that we’re going to be vets and we’re going to do it the right way like we’ve been doing and whenever we roll into KC in May (for OTAs), we’ll be ready to go then too.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 10:06 AM.
