Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs just got exactly what they asked for and more on the first day of OTAs
The Kansas City Chiefs started OTAs on Tuesday, May 26, and the first reports afterward are as good as it gets.
The Kansas City Chiefs started OTAs on Tuesday, and they will end on Thursday. Kansas City has been dealing through the offseason without the availability of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who tore his ACL and LCL last December.
However, there are reports that he will be available for Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, which is on Monday Night Football on ESPN. That would be unprecedented, but it starts with the offseason workouts first.
However, there has been some pushback on that prediction. His knee injury is a bit more complicated than the average ACL tear. Not to mention, his Week 1 start wouldn’t align with the full recovery timeline athletes usually have for an injury like his.
But this is Patrick Mahomes we are talking about. We know he recovers from injuries pretty quickly—just look at his high ankle sprain. But this recovery would be truly insane, and it’s not just a hypothetical that he plays. This could really happen in Week 1. To prove that, he showed up to OTAs on Tuesday, just as the recent reports suggested he would.
“Today is the first day that Patrick Mahomes is back on a football field with his teammates, and he did participate in some form or fashion, I was told today at the Chiefs’ opening OTA practice,” ESPN’s Nate Taylor reported on NFL Live. “This has been one of the more important dates of the Chiefs’ offseason, with Mahomes recovering and rehabbing. What’s interesting here is that we will see Mahomes on Thursday, the Chiefs’ final OTAs practice of the week. What’s fascinating about him is that the Chiefs have not put out much video on Mahomes training or rehab. So what we see on Thursday will be the first real indication of how much progress he has made.”
ESPN’s Nate Taylor also reports the Chiefs get other great news that they likely expected
Taylor also reported that Kansas City got great attendance on Day 1 of OTAs. This is good because you never truly know if everyone will show up. OTAs are, for the most part, voluntary. However, it’s imperative that the players are there, especially new players, because the Chiefs are known for having tough offseasons.
The Chiefs don’t currently have anyone who’s fighting a contract dispute, so much so that they decided not to show up to OTAs. At least, that’s the way it currently seems based on Taylor’s reporting.