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Patrick Mahomes says he’s ready.
While the Chiefs’ quarterback suffered a torn ACL in mid-December, he is set to start Monday night’s game against the Broncos to begin the 2026 season.
“This has always been the goal — to get out there and play Week 1,” Mahomes said in his Thursday press conference. “It was a long offseason, a lot of work, a lot of great people around me — trainers, [my wife] Brittany, my family supporting me.
“But now we get to go out there and play the sport that I love. So, super excited. I mean, to get to play at Arrowhead against a great opponent, and go out there and be myself.”
Mahomes mentioned being himself on the field several times, which signals his readiness to utilize his legs whenever he feels he needs to. He noted a couple of moments in practice where he felt like he was back — precisely because he wasn’t thinking about his knee. One was a fourth-down play where he took off running and the other was when he was accidentally hit from behind.
“Every coach was freaking out, but I was like, I’m glad — someone hit me and I didn’t just crumble,” Mahomes said. “Stuff like that is good for me. And so now it’s just about going out there and playing the game.”
Those are moments where Mahomes has gotten the feeling that he can go out and execute.
“I’ve built up the strength, I’ve built up all the days of rehab so I can be myself,” Mahomes said. “I’m going to keep myself out of harm’s way like I always will — not trying to take big hits and stuff like that. But I’m a competitor. I signed up for this, and I’m going to go out and play football. I think that’s how I’ve always rolled, no matter what it is. That’s how I’ll probably roll the rest of my career.
“I think that’s what makes me who I am, is that I just love competing,” Mahomes added. “Playing quarterback is one thing. But you’ve got to love competing to have success in this league. You see that with the guys around this league nowadays. I’ll try not to lay any blocks unless it’s needed. But other than that, I’m going to go out and be myself and play football. We’ve built up all this strength over the offseason for that, so why not go out and maximize it?”
Mahomes and the Chiefs will certainly be tested with Monday night’s matchup against the division-rival Broncos. Denver led the league with 68 sacks last season, which was only four sacks below the record of ’72, which was set by the 1984 Bears.
Broncos owners Carrie Walton Penner and Greg Penner currently hold 40 percent of the MLB’s Colorado Rockies. Whenever baseball’s looming labor mess ends, they’re expected to emerge with controlling interest in the local baseball franchise
Via Woody Paige of the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Penners intend to acquire another 35 percent of the Rockies once the baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement is resolved.
The Walton-Penner group bought the Broncos in 2022 for a then-record $4.65 billion, less than half the recent price paid for the Seahawks.
Their fortune traces to the Walmart empire, which has spawned a cluster of multibillionaires. The Broncos’ ownership group instantly became the richest in the NFL, by far, and they’re willing to spend their money for the betterment of the team — which gives them a real advantage over their competitors.
Last year, in their fourth season of ownership, the Broncos won the No. 1 seed in the AFC and nearly secured a Super Bowl berth, The team is one of the short-list favorites for 2026.
While it’s been trending this way for months, Chiefs head coach all but made it official on Tuesday:
Patrick Mahomes is set to start the Week 1 matchup against the Broncos.
“Pretty good chance Patrick will go ahead and start, unless something were to come up here in the next couple days,” Reid said in his Tuesday video conference. “But, most likely, he’ll be the guy that’s out there.”
While Mahomes did not play in the preseason, he was an active participant in training camp and did not spend any time on the physically unable to perform list — despite suffering a torn ACL in December.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s shown everything there. He hasn’t missed a day, as you know,” Reid said. “You guys have seen him out there, so you know what it looks like, him running around and doing his stuff. Other than having a brace on his leg, everything looks normal. He’s running around the same way he’s always done and throwing the ball like he’s always done.
“So, I think we’ll be fine there.”
Mahomes, however, is unlikely to have his starting left tackle on the field with him in the Week 1 matchup against the Broncos. Josh Simmons is dealing with a back injury that has sidelined him.
“There’s a good chance Josh doesn’t play this week,” Reid said. “That’s where we’re at. So, we have that in our mind and I mean, he has an issue there that he’s working through. I’m not putting any time restraint on when he could come back, or when he could practice or how many practices he needs, and all that. I just want to make sure he’s healthy and OK to go. But other than that, we move forward.”
Kahlil Benson — an undrafted rookie out of Indiana — is in line to start at left tackle if Simmons is unable to play.
Veteran safety Taylor Rapp is heading back to Denver.
Rapp signed with the Broncos last month, but left the team to attend to personal matters. Head coach Sean Payton said at the time that there was a strong chance Rapp would return to the organization and Rapp worked out last week with an eye on coming back to action.
According to multiple reports, his return will come via the practice squad. Rapp can resume working out with the team right away and will be eligible to be elevated to the active roster for games.
Rapp played in 36 games for the Bills over the last three seasons and he made 57 appearances for the Rams over his first four years in the NFL. He has 488 tackles, 12 interceptions, two sacks, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries for his career.
When safety Taylor Rapp was released by the Broncos in August, the team left the door open for a return.
Head coach Sean Payton said that Rapp told the team needed “a little time at home” shortly after signing and that there was “a better than good chance” that he would return to the Broncos at a later date. That date may not be too far into the future.
The NFL’s transaction report for Friday shows that Rapp worked out for the team. Any return would likely begin via the practice squad, which would give Rapp a chance to work with the team and potentially be activated on gameday.
Rapp appeared in six games for the Bills last season and has made 57 career appearances for the Bills and the Rams.
Throughout the offseason program and training camp, all indications have been that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes would be ready to play Week 1 against the Broncos — despite suffering a torn ACL in December.
While Kansas City has not made an official announcement that Mahomes will be behind center, Denver head coach Sean Payton is treating that as a given this week.
“I’m going to probably say the same for Bo [Nix] — you’ve seen enough things where he’s going to be 100 percent and we’re preparing for him at his best,” Payton said in his Wednesday press conference, via transcript from the team. “We know how talented he is, and I’m sure he’s attacked the rehab the way Bo has with completely different injuries. That’s kind of our approach to it.”
Mahomes has historically fared quite well against the Broncos, with the Chiefs going 13-2 against them in his 15 starts. But Denver has also played him tough, as the quarterback has thrown for 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in those matchups. That’s a significant contrast to his numbers against the division-rival Raiders (36 TDs, five INTs) and Chargers (28 TDs, eight INTs).
The Broncos and Chiefs will cap Week 1 with Monday Night Football from Arrowhead Stadium.
Alphonso Smith Jr., a former NFL cornerback and the 37th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has died. He was 40.
Via TMZ, Smith died by suicide at a Florida housing community on Wednesday.
Before his passing, Smith posted a troubling message on Facebook that made his struggles clear.
Drafted by Denver, Smith was traded to the Lions in 2010. He played through 2012, appearing in 42 regular-season games with 11 starts.
Smith spent four years at Wake Forest. He was a consensus All-American in 2008. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
We extend our condolences to Smith’s family, friends, teammates, and coaches.
The L.A. Clippers were safe. Until they weren’t.
In one of the most stunning examples of ESPN-on-ESPN crime on record, Shams Charania of ESPN reports that the NBA has levied unprecedented punishment on the L.A. Clippers for salary-cap circumvention in connection with Kawhi Leonard: Five first-round picks and a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer. The NBA also has suspended Ballmer and others.
The report comes only a few weeks after ESPN reported that the NBA has no evidence of salary-cap circumvention by the Clippers as to Leonard.
The only way to harmonize the two reports is this — the NBA must have found a shitload (technical term) of evidence since August 17.
It’s the harshest cap penalty ever levied, in any sport. The NFL hasn’t issued one in years (except for a “clerical payroll error” by the 49ers in 2024).
Most recently, the NFL fined the Broncos a total of $1.918 million and stripped them of two-third round draft picks for a series of salary-cap violations in the 1990s. Before that, the NFL penalized the 49ers for a cap violation in 2000, taking a fifth-round pick in 2001 and a third-round pick in 2002; the league also fined former 49ers (then Browns) president Carmen Policy $400,000, and it fined 49ers vice-president Dwight Clark $200,000. That same year, the Steelers were fined $150,000 for a self-reported salary-cap violation. (Thanks to Team PFT for doing the research on this.)
All of those examples pale in comparison to what the NBA has done to the Clippers. And it all traces to the reporting of Pablo Torre, whose efforts secured a Pulitzer Prize for Pablo Torre Finds Out. (After ESPN’s August 17 report, some were suggesting it should be rescinded.)
That’s the true value of modern sports journalism. At a time when most are chasing transactional nuggets that will inevitably be announced (sometimes only minutes after the exclusive report), the best stuff to chase is the stuff they don’t want anyone to know about.
But for Pablo, the Clippers’ infraction never would have been discovered.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid hasn’t set anything in stone regarding quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s availability for their Monday night game against the Broncos in Week 1, but all indications are that he’ll be in the lineup.
Assuming that’s the case, the biggest question will be whether his lack of work in the preseason and the long layoff since he tore his ACL last year will have any negative impact on the offense. Wide receiver Xavier Worthy said at a Wednesday press conference that Mahomes’s “will and want to” will help ensure that the team doesn’t hit any rough patches.
“Me and Pat, we’ve kind of been working this offseason and obviously the timing and stuff you need to work on. . . . I feel like when it’s time to play, we’ll all be ready,” Worthy said.
Reid also had a press conference on Wednesday and said only that Mahomes will keep practicing in the days leading up to the opener. The Chiefs will practice once more this week and then reconvene on Monday to begin their final preparations for Denver.
The Chiefs practiced without a key member of their defense on Wednesday, but there’s no sign of concern about the absence extending into Week 1.
Defensive tackle Chris Jones sat out of practice with a back injury. Head coach Andy Reid said at a press conference, via multiple reporters, that the team believes he’ll be “alright” moving forward.
Jones started every game for Kansas City last season and finished the year with 29 tackles, seven sacks and 25 quarterback hits.
Left guard Kingsley Suamataia left practice early with an illness and left tackle Josh Simmons, who has been dealing with a back injury of his own, did not take part in the practice.
