Mahomes needs no more risky snaps
GLENDALE, Ariz. — On his third and final series of a preseason game Friday at State Farm Stadium, Patrick Mahomes serpentined out of the pocket, whirled to his right and fired the ball against the grain to Travis Kelce for 8 yards.
Right after that amply high note, Mahomes could have figuratively dropped the microphone and walked off the field from an inconsequential outing against the Arizona Cardinals.
Instead, two plays later, yikes, here he was scrambling around right end on third and 2 and getting crunched by cornerback Malcolm Butler after a 5-yard gain.
It was nothing particularly brutal, and at least from the press box it looked like Butler held back.
But it was the second time in the 17-10 victory on Friday that Mahomes was left exposed and vulnerable. Earlier, he kept the ball on an option and ran for a first down on fourth and 2 before being smacked down by 262-pound linebacker Victor Dimukeje.
Now, maybe it’s true that Mahomes needs to absorb a shot or two to acclimate to a fresh season. And he surely seems to welcome a few.
But it’s also true that the $500 million man who has transformed everything about the Chiefs doesn’t need any more of those wince-inducing moments to be ready for the regular-season opener Sept. 12 at Arrowhead Stadium against Cleveland — whose quarterback, Baker Mayfield, by design isn’t likely to play a snap this preseason.
And since Mahomes can’t play in armor encased in bubble wrap with protective porcupine quills on the outside — and since he’s either unwilling or unable to avoid engaging further hazards — the best way to prevent something regrettable from happening would be to script him into a benign role for the preseason finale against Minnesota on Friday at Arrowhead.
Take it from him.
“If you thought tonight I was really going at it, it’s going to be hard for Coach [Andy] Reid to calm me down [back at Arrowhead],” Mahomes said.
With the “juices flowing,” he added, he’ll have to calm himself down.
Only … he can’t, as Reid acknowledged when asked about how he reconciles seeing Mahomes get hit in the preseason.
“You’re not going to stop that: If you’re going to play him, he’s going to play the game,” Reid said. “So if he decides to go, he goes, and you don’t want to take that away from him.”
Emphasis on if you’re going to play him.
Because nothing says they have to, at least not in any way that leaves him susceptible to injury, and the preseason prime directive has to be to first do no harm.
Yes, this week will mark the third game of the preseason, the one when starting quarterbacks traditionally play the most.
But with the advent of the 17game regular season replacing a fourth preseason game, it’s also the last preseason game … one in which many starting quarterbacks typically don’t play at all.
Because of the 16-day gap between the Vikings and Browns games, Reid may be reluctant to simply sit Mahomes. But maybe this scenario would make for a fine compromise that splits the difference between old customs and new realities:
Get Mahomes on the field to stretch his legs and break a little sweat, have him hand the ball off a few times, throw a couple quick-release passes and call it a night.
With an entirely new offensive line featuring three rookies, any ingame communication is a worthy endeavor. Even so, the risk-reward ratio here is out of whack.
Strikingly mature and self-aware as he is, his admirable competitive instinct is so hard-wired that it’s hard for him to downshift … even when it doesn’t really matter. Meaning that even the Chiefs can only hope to contain him.
So why not save him from himself by taking him out of the equation?
The sickening sights of him crumpled on the field in Denver two years ago and at Arrowhead against Cleveland in the playoffs last season loom as graphic evidence of what could go awry in the worthy pursuit of victory.
So when it comes to the matter of the needless temptation of fate in a trivial pursuit, here’s hoping the Chiefs minimize any risk to the apparent destiny of this generational force.