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The Kansas City Chiefs are heading into a Week 3 Monday night showdown following a dramatic overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday. Aided by a pair of 58-yard field goals from Harrison Butker, the Chiefs overcame a strong NFL debut from L.A.’s rookie QB Justin Herbert, who threw for 311 yards on 33 attempts after being thrust into action just minutes before kickoff.
Following the conclusion of the divisional matchup, Patrick Mahomes met Herbert at midfield to exchange a few words, which the 25-year-old superstar used as an opportunity to offer some valuable advice to this year’s No. 6 overall draft pick.
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Mahomes to Herbert: ‘Stay Away From Those Big Hits’
It’s not every week that a rookie signal-caller puts his team into a position to knock off the defending Super Bowl champions and possibly the sport’s best and most important player in Mahomes — and the MVP took notice.
Thanks to NFL Media’s Week 2 “Mic’d Up” video, we now know what the Chiefs quarterback said to his Chargers counterpart as the teams were walking off of the SoFi Stadium turf on Sunday.
“Hey, man, way to play,” Mahomes said to Herbert. “You’re going to play for a long time, man. Ay, just stay away from those big hits. I learned early, you’ve got to stay away from them.”
You can watch the full exchange starting at the 24:14 mark of the video below.
Andy Reid, Mahomes on Running Quarterbacks
Speaking of avoiding big hits, Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid was asked on Thursday what goes through his head when Mahomes takes off running, and what separates the good quarterbacks from the greats when they’re extending plays with their legs.
“You don’t want to necessarily make a living on it,” said Reid. “The one unique thing I think you can point out on it is that all the guys keep their eyes downfield, all the great ones. So, they’re still putting pressure back on the defense with the opportunity to potentially throw the football.”
Mahomes also chimed in on the topic, offering a similar answer regarding the strategy behind what he’s looking to accomplish when a play breaks down.
“Yeah, I think the good thing about having the guys that I have on my team – the receivers, running backs, tight ends that we have – is that defenses have to be accountable for those guys and so they’re getting depth,” Mahomes said. ”
They’re trying to stop those guys from beating them over the top and whenever there’s room to run, I have to be able to take advantage of it. It’s kind of been the last three years of usually when I scramble, I’m looking out for the throw so you’re seeing defenses, now they’re not leaving their guys, kind of just stay with them and let me run and I don’t know if I can run like Mike [Vick] but I can run a little bit enough to just get the first down and get out of bounds.”
While Mahomes doesn’t possess the raw speed and athleticism of Michael Vick, he has racked up 554 yards and four touchdowns on 116 attempts in 33 career games. He may need to add to those totals versus a stout Ravens defense on the road in Baltimore this Monday night.
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