The Chiefs have a new quarterback. And coach Andy Reid’s first order of business was unrelated to actually coaching him.
“First I had to learn how to say his last name,” Reid told reporters on Thursday in a joint press conference with Patrick Mahomes. “Instead of McHomes it is Mahomes.”
The next order of business is developing a comfort level with the man not known as McHomes.
“Comfort level is extremely high,” Reid said. “Does that mean I am not going to grind on him? It is all roses right now. That he isn’t going to hit a rough spot here or there during the season? Well, it happens. It happens to every quarterback in the National Football League. But he is wired the right way, I know that. Now he just has to go do it. Everything else is speculation to this point. We feel like we have narrowed that down a little bit to where we are comfortable with it. Now it is just a matter of us doing a good job coaching and him, doing a good job playing and the guys around him doing their thing and we roll.”
Assisting the comfort level is the fact that Mahomes started the last game of the 2017 regular season.
“I had the honor of working with Patrick this past season, in particular, in a closer relationship for the Denver game,” Reid said. “Almost like a dress rehearsal not knowing that we were going to make this move with Alex [Smith]. Definitely knew that Matt Nagy was probably going to be out the door as a coach. So the Denver game allowed me to work with Mike Kafka and see how he’s progressed, and work with Patrick. I had the opportunity to call [plays] for him in that game and kind of get a feel of how he operates. It was a smooth transition. The fans and media here had an opportunity to watch him perform, just as I did. It was fun to be a part of and we look forward to the future. This is a great thing for the Kansas City Chiefs most of all and it’s exciting. The energy in this building is unbelievable right now and we’re really looking forward to getting the offseason going here where we actually can get the players back in the building and talk to them.”
When Reid has a chance to talk to Mahomes, the goal will be to adjust the offense to suit his skills.
"[W]e will try to utilize his strengths,” Reid said. “One of the things as a coach, that is what you do. You exploit their strengths and you work on things they need to get better at. Will the offense change a little bit? Yeah, it will. It will change a little bit, but that is fitting around his talents.”
HIs talents are many and impressive. Rocket arm. Mobility. Fearless. Given the weapons he’ll have (Sammy Watkins, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt), the Chiefs could have an even better offense in 2018 than they had in 2017.