The Kansas City Chiefs received the best news of the offseason this past weekend, with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting Patrick Mahomes is on track to participate in OTAs. This is huge news for Kansas City, as it's the first concrete reporting we've seen that Mahomes could legitimately be ready for Week 1 and the start of the 2026 season. While this is great news for the franchise and its fanbase, it is undeniably not great for backup quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields is coming off a frustrating season with the New York Jets, but he had a chance to step into the most capable offense he'd seen in his career. It isn't a hot take to point out that a great start or two would be enough to breathe life back into Fields' career as a starter.
There was reason to believe this could be the case with Mahomes suffering an ACL injury that can have a vastly different timeline for getting back on the field. However, if there is one player who will find a way to return as quickly as possible, it is Mahomes.
Should Mahomes be ready to rock in Week 1, which is still not a certainty, it appears that Fields will be relegated to the bench for the 2026 season, only to be utilized if the Chiefs opt to run special packages with the quarterback. This has been something we've seen with the Pittsburgh Steelers' use of Fields, even when starter Russell Wilson took back over in the 2024 season.
Latest Chiefs Update Serves as Bad News for Justin Fields' QB1 Hopes
Mahomes has been incredibly durable throughout his career, with the 2025 injury being the first time the quarterback has been out of the lineup for an extended period. It is a fair take to point out that if Fields were going to get into the starting lineup for the Chiefs, it'd be because the team wants to protect Mahomes by easing the signal caller back into the starting lineup.
The fact that he will be ready for OTAs makes this incredibly unlikely, giving Chiefs fans a reason for excitement and Fields a reason for frustration. The backup quarterback is simply going to have to hope that spending time behind the league's best signal-caller gives teams interest in handing the quarterback another opportunity.
It is important to note here as well that Schefter noted that Mahomes is on track to participate, and fans won't fully breathe a sigh of relief until they see the star back on the field and moving capably. This appears to be where we are heading, putting Fields firmly on Kansas City's bench, taking away any expectations of an early-season start.
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