QB Smith feels heat

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Alex Smith has done everything in training camp that Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid expects of him.

He’s made the tight throws and smart reads. He’s thrown the ball away when things break down and avoided the big mistakes. He’s changed plays when it’s wise and checked down when it’s prudent.

In short, Smith has been the consummate veteran quarterback.

But it hasn’t stopped him from

feeling some heat.

As the 33-year-old incumbent has toiled away under a hot Missouri sun, Patrick Mahomes II has dazzled coaches and fans alike with natural moxie and a big arm. Smith’s heir apparent is not expected to unseat him this season, even after the Chiefs traded up to select him 10th overall, but that hasn’t stopped people from raving about the young gunslinger — and asking, “What if?”

What if Smith gets banged up? What if he struggles early in the year?

“When you’re drafting a guy that early, you’re hoping he’s bringing that quality. That is an unwritten and unsaid and untalked-about deal,” Smith said. “When the quarterback is really good, then it’s really competitive and we do compete in everything. We do all the time. We keep score in everything. The better everyone is, then I think that’s going to make everyone better, myself included.”