The Kansas City Chiefs are a little over a week away from preseason Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams.

This will mark the first action since the team’s Week 18 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last season. It’s also the first possible game where Patrick Mahomes could make his return after a season-ending ACL/LCL injury last year. He’s been a full participant in training camp, but will he get reps in the preseason?

Chiefs HC Andy Reid says QB Patrick Mahomes unlikely to play in preseason Week 1

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to reporters on Friday after practice about whether he’d given consideration to playing Patrick Mahomes during preseason Week 1.

“Yeah, listen, I mean there’s a pretty good chance I don’t play him,” Reid said. “And percentages are leading that way. And I don’t know if I play them the second or third game. I mean, I don’t know that. So, but percentages probably lean against doing that and letting the other guys. We’ve got new people in those other positions and behind him that need some work, and so the more reps they get, the better.”

Reid explained that things are trending toward Mahomes not playing against the Rams. He hadn’t yet decided for certain, and he also hadn’t made up his mind about preseason Weeks 2 or 3. Mahomes’ goals for training camp and the preseason were simple. He wanted to be cleared for the start of camp and to participate in at least one preseason game. That Week 2 contest could potentially be the game where Mahomes sees action.

With the injury situation, it’s entirely possible that Reid changes his offseason tune and holds Mahomes out of all three weeks of the preseason. Typically, he plays starters for two of the three weeks. Mahomes has also previously stated that he likes to get hit during the preseason, that it helps him prepare himself and his body for the regular season. That first hit helps get the nerves out.

The battle between Justin Fields and Garrett Nussmeier could dictate how many snaps Mahomes gets, if any.

Justin Fields and Garrett Nussmeier are likely to get lots of work this preseason

The Chiefs already know what they have in Chris Oladokun. Kansas City is still determining what it has in Fields and Nussmeier, and both players need preseason reps to sort out the depth chart.

Fields was traded to the team this offseason after spending time with the Bears, Steelers, and Jets. He has largely been the No. 2 quarterback during training camp repetitions. He’s had an up-and-down stretch at camp, with some flashy plays alongside some shaky ones. He really needs to continue to improve his chemistry with the group of skill players he’s working with.

“Yeah, I definitely feel like it’s gotten better, especially since OTAs,” Fields told reporters. “OTAs is the first time you’re really throwing to them. But the more we work with them each day, especially me and us. I know (Quarterback) Pat (Mahomes) probably has a good fit with all of them, but the more reps I get with them, the more you can kind of see their tempo, their breaks out of routes and stuff like that. So, it’s been kind of good, getting those reps, stuff like that.”

As for Nussmeier, he has very much looked like the second-best quarterback during training camp practices. Reid spoke to reporters on Friday and explained that the rookie has done everything the right way. When he’s on the field, he does what matters most: Moving the football down the field.

“Yeah, I mean every time he’s in, he moves the ball,” Reid said of Nussmeier. “So, I look at that, and then any of the mistakes we’ll correct as we go. But his pass production has been a real positive, and he gets it. He works hard at it. You know, his dad’s a coach, and he grew up that way, knowing about detail, and so he’s doing a nice job. And we’ve loaded him up. I mean, we haven’t pulled back on anything with him as far as volume, and he’s handled it.”

Nussmeier is still a rookie with a long way to go, but he seems to have the mental makeup and the physical prowess to handle everything that’s come his way. What he’s able to show in the preseason will go a long way toward determining his trajectory for the 2026 NFL season.