The timing of Patrick Mahomes' season-ending knee injury, which took down the MVP quarterback in Week 15, would normally put playing Week 1 the following season out of question. Patrick Mahomes is not normal.
General manager Brett Veach told that Mahomes is "way ahead of schedule" in his rehab.
"I think it wouldn't surprise you guys, the way it's been really inspiring just to see -- my mind, I've been there before with Pat, he had that dislocated knee and worked his tail off and came back in three weeks. I knew that this bump on the road wouldn't slow him down at all. But I mean, this guy has been in the building -- especially like a player that has accomplished everything and can do anything he wants. He can hire his own trainers and be wherever he wants; he's in our building every single day. Even when he goes away for a few days, say, to Dallas for a weekend with his family, he takes one of our trainers with him. So, needless to say, he's way ahead of schedule. I think the biggest challenge that we're going to have is protecting him from himself. I'm sure when we get to St. Joseph, Missouri, for training camp, he's gonna want to be full go, but we are going to have to hold him back a little. And again, I don't want to put a timetable on it, but I think you guys know the type of person and competitor that Pat is. I would just say, we are in a really good place right now."
The comments come after Andy Reid tread lightly last week when discussing whether the Kansas City Chiefs would have their star quarterback participate in OTA practices later this month, noting that he's in a "good position" to partake in certain aspects but wouldn't commit. It appears as though one of the biggest challenges for the Chiefs brass at this point is ensuring they don't let the line out too long for Mahomes, ensuring a steady pace to prevent a setback.
From the moment Mahomes went down and the Chiefs' season was lost, the question was whether the quarterback would be ready for Week 1. The next timeline update will be to see what the club allows him to do during OTAs in three weeks and minicamp next month (June 9-11). We're still a ways away from knowing for sure, but it's sounding more and more like Justin Fields will be caddying, not playing, when K.C. opens the season.
