The Kansas City Chiefs were given great news this week as Patrick Mahomes took reps in phase three of OTAs and appears to be far ahead of schedule. It would be shocking not to see Mahomes take the field in Week 1 and fail to miss any time, taking away what would've been an opportunity for Justin Fields. However, the backup quarterback shouldn't be written out of the offense entirely, with Fields' unique skillset giving the Chiefs a chance to protect Mahomes and offer the unit a clear wrinkle.
In 59 career games played, Fields has 2,892 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns, including a season where the signal-caller amassed over 1,100 with the Chicago Bears in 2022. Just because Mahomes is healthy doesn't mean the Chiefs should hesitate to insert Fields in the lineup, utilizing his ability as a wildcat quarterback and truly leaning into the creativity of Eric Bieniemy and Andy Reid.
For Fields, it offers the 27-year-old a chance to continue to earn reps and serve a role for an offense that could benefit from the wildcard option. There is also the fact that Mahomes, prior to the injury, wasn't utilized in quarterback sneak plays due to the risk of injury. Kansas City now has a chance to have its own version of the tush-push play without putting Mahomes in harm's way.
Chiefs should still utilize Justin Fields despite Patrick Mahomes' return to health
Mahomes was often the team's leading rusher a season ago, setting up the offseason addition of Kenneth Walker III. While this goes a long way in taking away the expectation of Mahomes utilizing his legs, having Fields run trick plays and be a short-yardage option offers obvious upside to an organization that needs to protect its franchise quarterback.
The only downside of this is the fact that you never want to take the ball out of the hands of the game's best quarterback. It is a sacrifice worth making, however, as the Chiefs can take away a bit of the early-season pressure off Mahomes and help ease him into the lineup.
If packages with Fields prove to yield consistently positive results, the team can continue to utilize them even when Mahomes is completely back to himself. There will also be consistent usage for Fields in short-yardage situations as a guy capable of sneaking it up the middle or faking out the defense for a larger play. No question, Mahomes returning to the lineup shouldn't take away what is a clear role for a guy in Fields looking for a career resurgence in Kansas City.
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