Kansas City Chiefs look ahead to first preseason game, feeling ready to be back on the field

On Thursday, head coach Andy Reid mentioned all four quarterbacks, including QB Patrick Mahomes, will get the full first quarter of repetitions on offense against the Bears, while skill players will filter based on who’s under center.

“There’s a balance there of letting the 1’s get a little bit of work, and the guys are going to play in the game and still have the competition at certain positions,” Reid said. “Then most of all, get the young guys a look.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have his starting spot solidified come Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. Last season, Mahomes was fourth in the league in passing yards and touchdowns, and had the fifth best QBR.

Watching the preseason game, fans might be a tad nervous when he drops back. In Mahome’s mind, he knows the importance of playing, even for just a preseason quarter.

“Once you get hit one time, you kind of see what it is like to get hit again as a quarterback. I feel like after that, you’re good to go,” Mahomes said. “It’ll be good to get in there with the new group of receivers that we have, all the running backs and kind of show how we do it in the game.”

On the defensive side, safety Justin Reid will be looked upon as a leader after the departure of 10-year veteran Tyrann Mathieu. Last season, the Houston Texan had 41 solo tackles and two interceptions.

Although Justin Reid is new to the team, he’ll be looked upon to step up and take a leadership role. While the team won’t dive too deep into the playbook, Reid is ready to go out and hit.

“Obviously in preseason we’re not going to be exposing our whole deck of cards,” Justin Reid said. “But guys are excited to play and I’m excited to be able to line up against somebody wearing a different color jersey than I am for once.”

With the Chiefs drafting seven defensive players in this year’s draft, there’s a lot of potential, but not a lot of room for error. While the rookies have looked presentable in practice, the preseason is where we’ll see who can handle the pressure.

“Things are going to unfold themselves. As we start getting into the preseason games, we start having some live contact and start seeing how guys perform under pressure,” Justin Reid said. “But up to this point, they’ve been doing excellent.

Andy Reid made it clear to every active person on the roster that they would get a chance to play on Saturday. While the overall goal is to finalize the depth chart, each individual sees a different advantage.

“I think it’s good to kind of get the juices going, get yourself out there and even if it’s a limited amount of plays,” Andy Reid said. “Prepare yourself, prepare yourself mentally to go play.”

“Just getting in rhythm,” Mahomes said. “It’s getting in the game and seeing when the clock’s running and everything, the game kind of speeds up.”

“It’s barebones football, we know what you’re going to do, you know what we’re going to do,” Justin Reid said. “Let’s see what your true skill set is before we get into the game plan.

The Chiefs’ first preseason game will kick off at noon on Saturday. With the first wave of roster cuts from 90 to 85 players coming on Tuesday, Aug. 16, everyone will have to step up their game.