Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs throws the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA … [+]
When the NFL schedule came out in May, something instantly stood out to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
He noticed his team would be playing on Sunday, Dec. 15; Saturday, Dec. 21 and then Wednesday, Dec. 25.
“It’s not a good feeling,” Mahomes said. “You never want to play this many games in this short of time. It’s just not great for your body, but at the end of the day, it’s your job. You’re a professional. You have to come to work and do it.”
In addition to playing Sunday at the Cleveland Browns, the ensuing Saturday against the Houston Texans and a Wednesday Christmas game at the Pittsburgh Steelers, it means the Chiefs, who also opened the season on a Thursday and played on Black Friday vs. the Las Vegas Raiders, will have played a game on every day this season — except Tuesday.
“We have games all over the place,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “It’s a unique situation. You just have to manage it. It is what it is. So, you make the best of it.”
Reid said having three games in just 11 days makes studying the opponents more challenging.
But that condensed schedule is a grind on both the mind and the body.
Regarding the latter, Mahomes said he tailored his workouts all year long for this coming stretch. He also praised the coaching staff for knowing when the team needs to rest.
“We practice (as) hard as anybody, but they know how to kind of dial it back when we need it,” Mahomes said. “Coach Reid has a great plan going into it. So, I’ll follow that.”
So will Chris Jones, the Chiefs’ best defensive player.
Jones signed a five-year, $158.75 million contract this offseason, likely meaning he’ll retire with the same franchise who drafted him in 2016.
In part because the eight-year veteran is 30 years old and has played more than 80% of the defensive snaps in nine of the Chiefs’ 13 games heading into their 14th game against the Browns, he does not like playing on myriad days of the week.
“I rather just play on Sunday,” he said. “I love my rest. I have a recovery routine throughout the week that my body kind of gets used to. You have to kind of speed everything up. It’s challenging.”
Jones also lamented that the Chiefs, who had not previously had a bye earlier than Week Eight since Mahomes became the starter in 2018, had such an early off week (in Week Six) this year.
But they could receive a quasi-bye.
If the 12-1 Chiefs beat the Browns on Sunday and the Texans next week and the Buffalo Bills lose Sunday at the Detroit Lions, one of the best teams in the NFL, the Chiefs will have locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, meaning they could potentially rest their starters against the Steelers.
That’s the best-case scenario.
Regardless, the Chiefs will face quite the late-season test because of their condensed schedule.
“It’s a gauntlet,” said right guard Trey Smith, who is in a contract year. “At the end of the day, we’ll ride out any challenge, and we’re ready to play regardless of situation, circumstance or time.”
