Andy Reid is putting Patrick Mahomes to the test
Patrick Mahomes had a rough day in practice yesterday, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid is deliberately trying to test his young quarterback.
Andy Reid has been coaching football for too long to get worked up over a quarterback’s rough practice in May. That’s why the Kansas City Chiefs coach is going to continue to push Patrick Mahomes to make sure he’s ready to go Week 1.
In fairness, Mahomes was really ugly during Chiefs practice yesterday. He only managed to complete 11 of his 27 pass attempts on the day. The fact that he was intercepted once certainly didn’t help the aesthetics of his play.
None of that means Chiefs fans should start pining for the return of Alex Smith or clamoring for the promotion of Chad Henne. Mahomes’ struggles are all a part of Reid’s plan for the preseason. He’s trying to drown his young quarterback with information now to allow him to flush out his mistakes in practice. It’s much better to throw INTs in May than in December.
The good news for Chiefs fans is that Mahomes is taking all of this in stride. He understands that his coaching staff is “trying to throw a whole lot” at the offense. Reid typically gives a lot of responsibility to his quarterbacks but they have to earn his trust. Preseason is the perfect environment to learn.
Reid makes no bones about his desire to test his young signal caller. He claims the preseason camps are exactly “where you want to test.” The offensive guru isn’t worried about Mahomes’ interceptions at this point in the preseason. He will only grow concerned if he sees his young gunslinger repeat his mistakes. Specifically, Reid is installing new things to the Chiefs offense right now in an effort to see what he can “get away with.”
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Add it all up and it’s clear that Patrick Mahomes is in a football laboratory right now. He’s going to flash some brilliant throws in practice but there will be some ugly mistakes as well. Chiefs fans shouldn’t overreact to either end of the spectrum right now. Reid and his young quarterback won’t start really getting concerned until the reps actually mean something.