Patrick Mahomes on wide receivers’ success: ‘It starts with me giving guys chances’

Kansas City’s biggest star has to do his part for Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice.

The Kansas City Chiefs may have left the field with a sour taste in their mouths after their crushing 40-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes doesn’t expect major changes after the loss.

“Every year we reset,” he explained to reporters after Tuesday’s first practice of training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. “We talk about that after we win. We talk about that after we lose. So it starts from Day 1. How can you attack this day to be better than you were the day before? That’s not only on the practice field. That’s in the meeting rooms [and] that’s how you recover and get yourself ready to go.”

Thanks to their consistent postseason success over the last half-decade, the Chiefs have played more football than any other NFL team. Mahomes understands that being ready for these late-season runs begins in St. Joseph.

“We know we have one of the hardest training camps out there,” said the superstar, “but it’s for a reason. So, how can you attack it every day and not have those down days? We have a lot of just building and building. That will prepare us for the next day — and it will prepare us for the end of the season.”

Mahomes reiterated the team’s commitment to renewing its deep passing attack after a 2024 season in which he once again failed to eclipse 4000 passing yards.

“I’ve got to be better at throwing the ball down the field,” he admitted. “Obviously, we weren’t good enough there. We’ve had success in prior years. These last few years, we haven’t done that. In order for our offense to be great, you have to be able to complete those passes. It opens up everything else.

“So, if teams are going to challenge us at the line of scrimmage — if teams are going to challenge us [to] throw the ball deep — we have to show that we can do that. It first starts with me and giving guys chances — but if we can do that, I think it’s going to really open up the offense and make us a better team in general.”

In Tuesday’s practice, Mahomes wowed the fans in attendance with a deep connection to second-year pro Xavier Worthy on his first pass attempt. The quarterback expects to make more of those throws — although he knows Kansas City’s cornerbacks will provide stiff competition.

“That’s what we’ve got to do,” said Mahomes of the highlight. “We’ve got to keep doing it. We’ve got great corners, so it’s going to be a lot of challenges for us. But even some of those that we throw incomplete that we’re throwing down the field, we can talk through those routes and talk through that stuff. So that’s the mindset: getting back to throwing the ball down the field. If we can do that, it’ll open up the rest of the offense.”

The deep passing game could also be augmented by the return of veteran speedster Hollywood Brown, who missed much of last season after suffering a shoulder injury while making a catch in the preseason opener. Despite the injury, expect Brown’s acquisition to pay dividends this season.

“You could see at the beginning in training camp last year — and in even first play of the preseason,” Mahomes said of Brown. “He’s going to be someone that’s going to make plays for us. So, he’ll continue to evolve. Even though he wasn’t playing, he was in those meeting rooms last year, so he has an understanding for how we do things.

“Then at the end of last year — kind of getting thrown in — he made some plays and did some stuff in a very hard situation. So I’m excited for him. I’m excited for that whole room, man. It’s a lot of talented guys, but they all truly care about and want each other to succeed. So, they want to go out there and prove themselves as much as I want to go out there and prove myself and the rest of this team. I’m excited for that whole group getting to showcase who they can really be.”

Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

While excited about the entire group, Mahomes might be most excited for the return of wideout Rashee Rice, who was arguably the NFL’s best receiver for the first month of last season before suffering a devastating knee injury. Six of Mahomes’ 17 targets in Tuesday’s team period went to the third-year pro.

Mahomes declined to speculate on the unfolding legal situation that is expected to impact Rice’s availability for at least part of the season. When the wideout is on the field, however, Mahomes expects Rice to perform even better than what fans saw in his truncated 2024 campaign.

“You saw at the beginning of last year,” remarked Mahomes, “with him being in the full training camp — and another year with us and our communication — and he was getting off to a very hot start. He attacked the rehab process now and has come back ready to go — and had a good first day today. We’ll continue to work, continue to get better and better, and he’ll evolve his game to be even better than he was at the beginning of last year.”