Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II at Super Bowl LVII's media night.
Pardon the nostalgia, but it feels like yesterday that Patrick Mahomes II entered this league as a promising first-round rookie. Now, the Kansas City Chiefs superstar has taken over as the face of the NFL, and he’s also turning into one of the wiser quarterbacks around the league.
During Super Bowl media night in Arizona, Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin asked Mahomes what advice he’d like to give the younger players on this Chiefs roster, and the playoff captain had an honest but insightful response.
“I’ll tell these guys that every team’s different,” Mahomes voiced truthfully. “Everybody sees us being in the Super Bowl three out of four years but there’s only like 12 dudes that won the Super Bowl with us in Miami that are still on this team. So, you never know if you’re going to have this opportunity again, and when you look back you want to say that I have no regrets with the way I played. I think our guys are ready to do [that].”
Patrick Mahomes Reveals Chiefs’ Motivating Factors vs Eagles in Super Bowl LVII
Contrary to the AFC Championship game versus the Cincinnati Bengals, there has not been much trash talk between the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Both appear to have a tremendous respect for one another as the best two teams in football according to record in 2022, and both locker rooms know that it’s more important to do your talking on the field.
That begged the question from Irvin, what’s motivating Mahomes and Kansas City ahead of the 2023 Super Bowl? And is it enough to beat a powerhouse like Philadelphia?
“The motivating factor is to be the best,” Mahomes stated without hesitation. “You’re in the biggest game of your life and you want to go out there and make memories with your teammates. And so, I think the biggest motivating factor is [to] step out on that field and try to be the best, and we know we got a great challenge in the Philadelphia Eagles — so it’ll be a great game.”
He added later that the Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is still motivating him personally as well.
“The [Super Bowl] win is amazing — it’s one of the best moments of your entire life, and you take away all the positives from that — but that loss, that stings,” Mahomes admitted candidly to Irvin. “That motivates you for years, and that’s what it’s done for me. It’s motivated me to be back in this game again, and I want to make sure that I can have that winning feeling not that losing one because that losing feeling is one that you’ll never forget.”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Provides Update on High Ankle Sprain Ahead of Super Bowl vs Eagles
Mahomes also addressed his high ankle sprain on February 6 in Arizona. “Oh, it’s great, doing good,” the Chiefs signal-caller said with a smile when Irvin asked him how his ankle was recovering.
Later, The KC Star’s Sam McDowell reported that Mahomes told media members that his ankle is “definitely in a better position than it was at this time before the last game” against the Bengals.
That’s tremendous news for Chiefs Kingdom, as the KC superstar attempts to get himself as close to 100% as he can against a fearsome Eagles defense lead by a dominant group of pass rushers and defensive linemen.
“I’ll just trust in [my offensive line],” Mahomes voiced via Dane Richardson of WBNG12News. “We know it’s going to be a challenge. [The Eagles have] one of the best defensive lines in history if you look at sacks, so we know it’s going to be a challenge. I’ll work on throwing the ball away when I need to, getting it out of my hands quick when I need to, and then when we need to trust the offensive line to block and then take some shots downfield, I’ll trust in the offensive line to do that.”
Mahomes would not say whether or not the nerves felt different ahead of his third Super Bowl, but did admit that he has a better understanding of the plan and the lead up this time around. “I guess we’ll see,” he replied to Irvin honestly regarding being calmer in 2023, “you don’t know until you get to gameday.”