Patrick Mahomes is ahead of schedule, and 3 more important things we learned from Day 1 of Kansas City Chiefs OTAs
The Kansas City Chiefs have their first Organized Team Activities (OTAs) practice in the books. Here’s a look at what was learned on Day 1 from Patrick Mahomes’ progress to Emmett Johnson’s role on special teams.
The Kansas City Chiefs got Organized Team Activities (OTAs) underway with their first practice of the week on Tuesday.
Members of the media won’t have a chance to observe practice until Thursday. Fans will also hear from coaches and players at that time. Despite that, there is still plenty to glean from the team’s released practice clips and images of Day 1 on Tuesday.
Patrick Mahomes is ahead of schedule
It’s no longer just conjecture or wishful thinking. Chiefs fans can now definitively say that star QB Patrick Mahomes is ahead of schedule. He only had surgery to repair his ACL and LCL 5.5 months ago, and he’s already out at OTAs throwing the football with his teammates.
My understanding is that Mahomes is not yet a full participant in practice. He’s participating in individual work. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the next big hurdle is for him to trust the knee enough to begin running and cutting. I’m told they’re not going to rush that part, but there’s a realistic chance he could be doing it by training camp in July.
Xavier Worthy still isn’t 100% healthy
Chiefs third-year WR Xavier Worthy was spotted in a clip from practice wearing the yellow jersey, which signals no-contact. Obviously, this is a non-contact practice anyway, but this is meant to signal that he’s hurt and not 100% healthy.
If you’ll recall, Worthy suffered a labrum injury in Week 1 of last season after colliding with Travis Kelce on a routine play in Brazil. He played the entire 2025 NFL season with the injury before having surgery to repair it in January. That’s in addition to an ankle injury he suffered in Week 5.
So, the Chiefs aren’t just down their No. 1 WR Rashee Rice, but Worthy is also still limited. That’s not great news for the wide receiver corps, outside of the fact that some younger players are going to get a lot of opportunities over the next three weeks. That leads us to our next observation.
Andy Reid is coaching up second-year WR Jalen Royals
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and Andy Reid chatting with Jalen Royals is worth more. Sure, we don’t know what these two were talking about in that moment. I’d wager this wasn’t just chit-chat during warm-ups given the fact that Royals’ helmet is on.
Royals’ rookie season was a bit of a disappointment in Kansas City. There’s always a learning curve, but his seemed quite large. Knee tendinitis robbed him of important developmental time in training camp. He appeared in just seven games with two starts in 2025, recording three receptions on two targets for four yards. He also had one kick return for 30 yards.
With Rashee Rice absent and Xavier Worthy still recovering from injury, there’s a lot of opportunity for him to seize. If Coach Reid is giving him individual instruction on or after a certain repetition, that’s a positive sign. With the questions this team currently faces at receiver, Royals taking a leap in his development could be a very big deal.
Emmett Johnson continues to get work with return specialists
One of the Chiefs’ Instagram videos showed Emmett Johnson going through special teams return drills. Andy Reid previously indicated that Johnson would play a role on the punt return unit as the upback.
“He’s going to help on special teams, too,” Reid said during rookie minicamp. “(Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Dave (Toub) has him in that up-back position on the punt team and (he’s) able to make all the calls and get guys going in the right direction.”
Johnson isn’t exactly known as a speedster, but I’m told he’s actually impressed with his return ability as well. It’s certainly something to watch as offseason workouts progress.