QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: On the evolution of the connection between Travis Kelce and himself.
MAHOMES: “I think you just – I mean, every defense changes every year, so you have to find little things here and there that you can have advantages at, defenses are getting better and better. Drue (Tranquill) played really good coverage on that. I was trying – it was a freestyle route. It wasn’t like a route that he (Travis Kelce) was supposed to run. I thought he was going to do something (and) he thought (that) he should do something else and then we kind of were off pace, but that’s what this is for. You try to learn those things, and if we get that rep in the game now, we know we’re going to be on the same page now because we talked it through and had that chance to do it on the practice field.”
Q: What are your expectations for Travis Kelce this year at 35 years old?
MAHOMES: “I expect Travis (Kelce) to be Travis, man. Obviously, the play on the field’s going to be high. He’s going to go out there with the mentality that we’re trying to win the Super Bowl this year with us falling short this last year. Then, I think more than anything, it’s the leadership that he brings to the building every single day. How he leads by example and how he leads vocally, it’s a big impact on our football team so I expect him to play at a high level and then be an even better leader.”
Q: Did you have any serious thoughts about Travis Kelce retiring?
MAHOMES: “We never talked about it. I think you have that in the back of your mind. I mean, for anybody that’s played a lot of football seasons, there’s always a chance. If they’re going to come back, you have to put in the work. You have to put in the work in the offseason. I think everybody wants to play the games but putting in the work in the offseason where stuff gets strenuous so for him (Travis Kelce), I think it was just recalibrating and seeing where he’s at. From what I’ve seen, I think y’all can see it, he’s ready to go. He’s been putting in the work this offseason, and he’s excited for another chance to make a run at it.”
Q: How did you decide to give Travis Kelce space to think about his decision to come back?
MAHOMES: “I don’t ever press guys like that (retiring). I just thought I’d give him space and let him make that decision on his own because you don’t want to have regret either way. If you come back, you don’t want to come back and not give everything that you have to it and if you leave, you don’t want to leave too soon so it’s a happy medium that you have to find. Hopefully, I don’t have to find it for a long time but that’s something that every athlete has to deal with in whatever career they have.”
Q: What can the offense be if everyone is healthy and the protection is better this year?
MAHOMES: “I think all you can do is just be better than you were the day before. Obviously, we have an expectation that we’re going to go out there and score every single drive but that comes with a lot of single reps, a lot of practice reps (and) a lot of time spent with the guys. It takes every single person in the building to go out there and have the top offense in the league, so we have to go into every practice, every film study, whatever that is with that mindset that we’re going to get the best out of it.”
Q: Do you notice the difference this time of year when you have receivers here that have played in this offense before?
MAHOMES: “For sure. I think you saw even at the beginning of last year before Rashee (Rice) got hurt. Whenever you have a guy that you have spent that time with and had that connection with, you can hit the ground running because you know those different things. Seeing that with Xavier (Worthy) this year and Hollywood (Brown) and Rashee and JuJu (Smith-Schuster) and all these guys, man. They have done a great job of working and continuing to work to get even better. You can talk about stuff that’s happened in prior years and that’s where me and Travis (Kelce) have had so much success is when you get multiple and multiple years of reps with guys, you continue to get better and better on the football field.”
Q: Would it be a disappointment for you to not get back to being a top offense this season like you were three seasons ago?
MAHOMES: “That’s the goal. You want to be the top offense in the league when you step in the building every single day, but at the end of the day, you want to win the Super Bowl. For me, I wasn’t as disappointed in not being the top offense as I was at losing the Super Bowl last year the way we lost it. Our goal is to do whatever we can to win the football game and hopefully, for us, that’s being the top offense to go along with the great defense that we have.”
Q: What have you seen from the rookies since they’ve been here?
MAHOMES: “It’s kind of cool to see. I don’t know if it’s like an NIL thing or guys staying in college longer but it’s a very mature group. It’s guys that come in, they know how to work, they know how to get after it but they’re learning quickly. To hear them talk and to hear them do different things – I don’t know if they have transferred or whatever it is – they have been in different offenses, but they have a good understanding of football and so now it’s about teaching them to work to the standard that (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid has. For any rookie that’s going to be a challenge, but I thought these guys did a great job of picking up on it.”
Q: How is Josh Simmons looking?
MAHOMES: “Josh (Simmons) is doing a great job, man and he’s getting healthier and healthier every single day and he’s doing a great job of learning. I mean, he’s getting the ultimate test going against Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) and seeing the blitzes that he’s going to see. He’ll continue to get more and more reps but he’s doing a great job with the whole process and I’m excited for him to get even healthier going into training camp.”
Q: Are the AFC Championship rings a painful reminder of the way the season ended or a symbol of what the team accomplished?
MAHOMES: “A little bit of both. I appreciate it because I know at the end of my career I’ll look back and remember those times with that team but obviously, the ultimate goal is a Super Bowl ring. You have a little bit of the – you appreciate it because you know what you did with that team but it’s a reminder for you to go out there and be even better. I’ll put it like this, I put those in my safe and I put the other ones on top of my safe. I keep both but some of them I showcase a little bit more.”
Q: How do you stay in tune football-wise over the next month or so?
MAHOMES: “It’s a lot of working out. This is like when Bobby (Stroupe) gets excited because he knows I’m going to be in the gym working out so it’s a lot of working out (and) throwing with some of the guys that’ll be in town. Then, spending some time with my family just because knowing that I’ll be in football season and miss a lot of that time so there will be a lot of parks and water parks and stuff like that to go a long with a lot of football workouts.”
Q: Do you ever wish it was more time in the offseason? It seems like it’s getting shorter every year.
MAHOMES: “I know. I don’t know how it works, man. It just seems like offseason is getting shorter and shorter every single year but that’s part of the process. I think (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid’s done a great job of pulling back a little bit in some of these OTA-type days just to kind of keep guys legs under them. I think it’s like four weeks. I’ll spend as much time (as I can) with my family, kind of stay in shape as best as possible and be ready to go whenever we step on that football field in St. Joe.”
Q: How many times have you watched the Super Bowl?
MAHOMES: “I haven’t watched it too many times. When we did some film study and you do scheme stuff but you watch it after the game, and you see it in the scheme and stuff like that. You take away the positives but obviously, you have to learn from the negative. Obviously, Philadelphia’s defense had stuff on us with (Eagles Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Vic) Fangio that they did a great job of taking away our best stuff. (You) learn from that, have stuff to counteract that and be ready to go this next season.”
Q: Whether it’s Jalen Royals or Josh Simmons, how do you work on building that chemistry with them?