Patrick Mahomes: ‘In the NFL, if you don’t execute, you lose football games’

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen on Tuesday — as the quarterback is coming off of a disappointing performance in Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Mahomes did not finish the game because of a coach’s decision after taking a vicious hit from Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

Mahomes reassured Eisen that he was physically fine — while acknowledging how serious the blow appeared.

“I saw it on film — it definitely looked pretty bad,” Mahomes admitted. “It kind of just shocked me there for a second. But I felt fine the entire time. I just wanted to take my time getting to the sideline. Trust me — they put me through about a million protocols already.

“Everything is good to go, and I’m ready to get back out there. I think my mom was more worried than anybody.”

The conversation then turned to the team’s unexpected struggles and 3-4 record — the first time Mahomes has known anything but early season dominance.

“I think it’s just execution,” Mahomes offered. “I think we have the guys, we have the players, we have the coaches to do whatever we really want. I think it’s how we’re executing. And in the NFL— if you don’t excecute, you lose football games. You’ve seen that from us when we play good. I think we can play with anybody.

“But when we don’t execute and we don’t have great games and we don’t play to the way we’ve been coached and to our ability, we lose. You’ve seen that over this season, we’ve had highs, but we’ve had lows. It’s how we correct those, how we get better, and I’m excited just to get back after it.”

Eisen then offered Mahomes a chance to respond to some national narratives about the team’s struggles. The quarterback pushed back on the idea that the league has figured out the team’s once dominant offense.

“I feel like we still do a lot of great things offensively,” Mahomes countered. “We obviously didn’t have the game we that we wanted to have this last week. I think if we get things rolling, and we execute, and we cut the turnovers out — I think this offense can still be pretty special. Especially when you have coach (Andy) Reid coaching. I don’t think he’s been figured out too many times.”

Mahomes appeared more receptive to the idea that he personally is trying to do to much.

Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

“I think there are moments when I’m trying to do too much,” agreed Mahomes. “But I think it’s nothing to do with any other guys on the team — offense, defense, or special teams. I think it’s just me wanting to win. I want to win, I think, more than pretty much everybody. I try to do whatever I can to put our team in the best positions to win.

“But there’s times where the turnovers I’ve created — the fumbles, the interceptions — have hurt the team in ways that I didn’t intend to happen. Me getting back to my fundamentals will be extremely important for us to have success this season.”

The quarterback strongly refuted the idea that the team suffers from a “Super Bowl Hangover” after their disappointing performance in Super Bowl LV.

“I don’t think so,” Mahomes replied. “I don’t even really know what that means. Whenever you’re in the Super Bowl, you want to get back. I think losing one maybe even more — that you want to find a way to get back to that game.”

While admitting his own contributions to the disappointing start, Mahomes continued to show the optimism that fans and teammates have come to expect from him as he looks to the remaining 11 games on the schedule.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” he confidently said. “When you look back at some of the great moments of great teams — they went through adversity. I’m excited for the challenge of it and trying see how we respond. And see if we can make this a memorable season that a lot of people are going to get to talk about — about how we didn’t start the way we wanted to and we kind of became who we wanted to become.”

Mahomes closed with a message to Chiefs fans, whom he acknowledged are largely panicked.

“We have the people, we have the players, we understand what it takes, and it’s about us putting in the work every single day,” Mahomes explained of moving forward. “I think when you have guys like this — leaders that have been a part of this culture for this long — we’re going to leave everything we have on that field every single Sunday (or Monday this week). And I think we’re going to right the ship — and get back to the Kansas City Chiefs football everyone’s accustomed to.”