As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs cleared Patrick Mahomes for training camp. It was a Herculean effort by the future Hall of Famer, who defied the odds from the moment he hurt his knee and was hell-bent on getting back on the field for Week 1.
Mahomes, once again, is proving that he's not like the average human being — not even the average NFL player. However, as durable as he's always been, and as encouraging as this is, the Chiefs still must tread carefully here.
Former quarterback Chase Daniel dug deep into Mahomes' recent tape to share his honest thoughts on his knee recovery. And while he can tell Mahomes isn't close to 100 percent, he likes how he's taken care of his body ahead of training camp:
"[The knee is] really ginger," Daniel said on his YouTube channel. "He's definitely not a hundred percent. My thing is like watching him through these next couple of days and seeing how sore he gets and if he misses any practices... This is the first time in his career that Mahomes has sort of been doubted, right? And I don't get it because this, this looks good. He's definitely ginger on, on the knee though... His mechanics look good... Mahomes is going to be just fine."
The Chiefs must protect Patrick Mahomes from himself
There was never an ounce of doubt that Patrick Mahomes would do everything humanly possible to get back on the field with no limitations as fast as possible. Now, it's up to the team to make sure he doesn't take it further.
Mahomes is the ultimate competitor, and he'll want to push through pain, fatigue, and swelling. The Chiefs must lay the hammer and protect him from himself, knowing that there's much more than just another season at stake.
Andy Reid's No. 1 goal for the season should be to make Mahomes' life as easy as possible. There are still legitimate question marks about the offensive line, and the latest unfortunate event with Eric Bieniemy might also be a big factor, but fixing the running game should help the team in that regard.
Just because Mahomes has always carried himself as some sort of superhero, and just because he's single-handedly led the Chiefs to the pinnacle of the league more times than not, that doesn't mean they can keep on banking on him to do so over and over. He still has a decade of elite play ahead of him, and they have to keep that in mind.
For now, it looks like everything is going according to plan. There will be bad days and good ones, and the Chiefs should shut him down and reassess their options at the slightest sign of discomfort. That said, stopping Mahomes from getting on the field if he thinks he's healthy enough to play might be tougher than winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
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