Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been cleared to participate in training camp with no limitations.
Rookies and quarterbacks arrived Friday in St. Joseph, Mo., and Mahomes, who suffered torn ligaments in his left knee in December, is ready to get started.
“It was always the goal to be able to practice when we got to training camp,” Mahomes said. “And we’ve hit that next step, and now it’s about building and keep getting better and better so that whenever the regular season rolls around, I can be available and ready to play.”
Mahomes wasn’t sure he’d be given the OK to practice with no restrictions until a couple days ago when he met with the doctors and made all the checkmarks he needed to get on the practice field in time for training camp.
Mahomes said one of those checkmarks was testing his mobility, which has improved steadily.
“I had to,” Mahomes said. “That’s the stuff I had to prove to the doctors and the coaches and everybody like that to be at this point. It’s a long process. The process isn’t over. It’ll be something that I deal with the next few years and probably the rest of my career. You have to stay on top of that stuff, but I feel comfortable now to go out there and run the offense the way it’s supposed to be ran.”
The Chiefs begin practice Saturday and full-squad practices begin next week. The Chiefs’ first preseason game is Aug. 15, but it’s unknown if Mahomes will even play in a preseason game.
“We’ll just take it day by day and see how he does,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’ll have plenty of eyes on him from coaches to trainers to doctors.”
Though there will be no contact on Mahomes during camp, he has had defenders rush him during workouts and the rehab process.
“We’ve had people on air coming after and moving, but that’s not the same as Chris Jones chasing after you,” Mahomes said. “That’s part of the mental process and the physical process, going out there. And I’m happy that I can do that from the beginning of training camp. And this’ll be the hardest training camp you can have as far as preparing for the season, and I’m glad that I’m able to do that starting tomorrow, and we can continue as training camp goes on.”
