‘I have to be better’ – Patrick Mahomes begins practice for shock new Chiefs role after showing off impressive skills
The Kansas City Chiefs will be out for revenge in 2025.
After coming up short in their quest for a historic Super Bowl three-peat last time around, Andy Reid’s dynasty have been tipped to ‘go ballistic’ next season.
The offense, which stuttered at times and was not as productive as usual in 2024, has been improved.
Kansas City’s front office plugged a major hole in the O-line by signing left tackle Jaylon Moore in free agency and they doubled down in the draft, selecting Josh Simmons with the final pick of the first round.
Their roster, which was pretty banged up last season, is nearly back to full strength, and veteran Travis Kelce has also confirmed he will return for year 13 after plenty of speculation around his retirement.
As always, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be a vital part of any success — but he might actually be called upon in more ways than one.
That’s because as well as leading the Chiefs offense, which has contested five of the last six Super Bowls, he actually also serves as a backup punter.
Back in October 2023, when Tommy Townsend was listed on the team’s injury report, special teams coordinator Dave Toub revealed that Mahomes was available to step into the role.
“(Mahomes) is our backup punter,” Toub said at the time.
“He could do it. He shows me all the time he’s out there (at practice). Boom.
“That guy, it’s unbelievable.”
Two years on, and the Chiefs now have two punters on the roster — Matt Araiza and Eddie Czaplicki.
But if, by some misfortune, both go down injured in 2025, it might be up to Mahomes to pick up some snaps on special teams.
And it seems he has already been practising for that.
The Chiefs shared a nine-second clip from training camp, in which the quarterback is seen booting the ball down the field.
“PUNTRICK MAHOMES,” Kansas City’s social media team joked, captioning the video.
Mahomes last punted during a game while at Whitehouse High School in Texas.
He did so 29 times for the Wildcats, with a 37.8-yard average.
For comparison, last season, Araiza averaged 48.8 yards — the 10th best in the NFL.
While Mahomes can clearly kick, he will be fully focused on his quarterback role as training camp progresses.
During the offseason, he shared his intention to complete more deep passes down the field, to open up the Chiefs’ offense.
On day one of camp, he was able to connect on one such pass to Xavier Worthy, and told reporters afterwards of the intention to further improve.
“We’ve got to keep doing it, though, and we’ve got great corners, so that’s going to be a lot of challenges for us,” Mahomes said.
“But even on some of those that we throw incomplete, that we’re throwing down the field, we can talk through those routes and talk through that stuff.
“So that’s the mindset — getting back to throwing the ball down the field, and if we can do that, it’ll open up the rest of the offense.”
Mahomes also noted that he has to improve with those passes if the Chiefs are to go one better than their 2024 Super Bowl heartbreak.
“I think for me I have to be better at throwing the ball down the field,” he added.
“I mean obviously, we weren’t good enough there.
“We’ve had success in prior years, but these last few years we haven’t done that.
“In order for our offense to be great, you have to be able to complete those passes. It opens up everything else.”
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