Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are set to feature for the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night in the preseason game against Jacksonville Jaguars, head coach Andy Reid has confirmed.
Most NFL teams sit their quarterback in the preseason and keep the safe from injury before the serious business starts – which for the Chiefs is September 5 against Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium.
But Reid said on Wednesday that Mahomes will feature on Saturday at TIAA Field in Florida – and Kelce is set to feature as well
‘It’s cool, I like playing in the preseason, honestly,’ Mahomes said. ‘Make sure we’re doing stuff in the right way and getting out. Keeping everybody healthy and playing the sport that I love.
‘Hopefully we can go out there and play a good football game. I always want to get hit, but not hit hard. A little nudge, that’s all I need.’
Reid, meanwhile, said: ‘As far as the play time for this game, we’ll go the ones for a quarter, twos for the second quarter, threes the third quarter and fours for the fourth quarter, and we’ll just keep it at that.
‘I’m gonna play everybody. All those young guys, I’d love to see how they compete.
‘The higher draft picks are gonna be in there [against] a little bit better competition, so I want to see how they handle that.’
As for Mahomes, Reid added: ‘Listen, I allow him to get into the swing of things. The ones know how to do that, both sides of the ball.
‘Somewhere you’ve got to get on there and shoot and that gives him an opportunity to do that.’
As news of Reid’s decision spread across social media, fans were split over it being the right call.
Some felt more teams should copy Reid given the Chiefs have won the last two Super Bowls.
‘Feel like more teams should try this considering how well it’s worked out for them,’ one fan said.
Another wrote: ‘Mahomes playing but Bryce Young isn’t. Wild.’
A different fan commented: ‘Zero chance Mahomes holds the ball for more than 3 seconds. Reid ain’t letting anyone get to him.’
But some disagreed with Reid, saying: ‘It’s no reward and all risk.’ Another said: ‘There’s absolutely no reason for Mahomes to play in the preseason.’
Last year, Mahomes played just one scoreless drive of a preseason game in a 26-24 loss to New Orleans Saints.
