Arrowheadlines: Patrick Mahomes sees Tom Brady as inspiration in how to handle the business side of football

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Patrick Mahomes trying to become more like Tom Brady as he chases GOAT | Sports Illustrated

“I’ve looked at Tom’s model and how he did it,” Mahomes says. “That’s it—you want to make money for yourself and for your family. You want to keep pushing the market forward for other quarterbacks. You don’t want to be someone that they [use against other players]. But at the same time, I want these other guys to get paid. I want Chris Jones to be in training camp. I want Travis Kelce to always be making money. I want everybody on the team here.

“I have a great offensive line. It’s everything around me. It’s all about having open conversation with [GM] Brett Veach, Coach Reid, [owner] Clark Hunt, and just knowing where that happy medium is. That will be out there throughout my entire career. To me, it’s not always about being the highest-paid. It’s about making enough money for me and my family, and keep moving the game forward for everybody.”

Predicting 2023 NFL Stat Leaders for All Major Categories | Bleacher Report

Passing Yards: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

This might be the year in which Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert officially makes the jump from being a talented young quarterback to an elite signal-caller.

The recently extended 25-year-old finished second with 4,739 yards in 2022 and should benefit from the additions of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and rookie receiver Quentin Johnston.

However, it’s hard to pick against reigning passing champ and reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes here. The 27-year-old is only entering his prime and continues to develop under venerated head coach Andy Reid.

“With quarterbacks, the work’s never done,” Reid told reporters. “... We’re always trying to give him new challenges with things and he loves that and loves to attack those types of things. So, that’s where it’s at.”

Mahomes is the best quarterback in the game and has stayed consistent through numerous changes. In 2022, for example, he lost No. 1 wideout Tyreek Hill when Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins. He went on to lead the league in passing for the first time in his career.

The loss of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy shouldn’t have a significant impact, with Reid still calling the plays and former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy stepping back into a familiar role.

And while Kansas City lost wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster in free agency, it added Richie James and rookie Rashee Rice. With Travis Kelce, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jerick McKinnon also in the mix, Mahomes will have no shortage of receiving options this year.

He will prove once again this season that he’s still the top quarterback in the NFL, let alone in the AFC West.

Leader Projections

1. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs: 5,106 passing yards

2. Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers: 5,086 passing yards

3. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals: 4,892 passing yards

2023 NFL ‘Out of Nowhere’ Breakout Team: Second-year QB, Steelers DB highlight five players ready to surprise | CBS Sports

Chiefs WR Skyy Moore

No way I’m ready to quit Moore yet. I had a first-round grade on him before the 2022 draft, and felt he landed in a dream scenario in a Tyreek Hill-less Chiefs offense. But Kansas City put a lot on Moore’s plate in Year 1. He aligned in essentially every receiver spot as a rookie, and he excelled in exactly none of them.

Moore was not the complete, dominant wideout he proved to be at Western Michigan across three seasons for the Broncos. With a year of experience in Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes’ offense, along with a sudden need to replace chain-mover JuJu Smith-Schuster, the stars have aligned for a massive jump in Moore’s productivity in a much more central role.

I found it to be an exceptionally challenging to find a glaring hole in Moore’s game as a prospect. He destroyed press coverage on a routine basis, flashed unshakable contact balance as a runner, exploded in and out of route breaks and caught everything in his general vicinity. I viewed him as a high-floor prospect, but maybe the leap from the MAC to the NFL was too significant for him to hit the ground running in his first professional season. In 2023, I expect Moore to be a 70-to-80 catch producer who’ll play with a noticeable comfort on Sundays en route to becoming somewhat of a household name.

Five Observations from Monday’s Practice | The Mothership

3. The defense worked on their proficiency in the red zone.

Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo chose to emphasize the red zone on Monday, devoting the practice’s final 10 “defensive” plays to protecting the end zone from the 5-yard line. One highlight from the segment occurred on the very first snap, when defensive lineman Charles Omenihu batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

The defense also devoted a segment of practice to third down, which included an athletic pass-deflection by cornerback Joshua Williams. Safety Justin Reid later ended that particular segment with an interception at midfield.

Outside of the offensive and defensive periods, the Chiefs special teams’ unit focused on punt coverage, punt protection and rushing the punter during Monday’s practice.

Around the NFL

Sources — Broncos WR Tim Patrick tears Achilles in practice | ESPN

Denver Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick, who missed the 2022 season with a torn right ACL, suffered a torn left Achilles during practice Monday, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Patrick was carted off the field with the injury and an MRI confirmed the Achilles tear, as first reported by 9News in Denver, meaning the receiver will miss his second consecutive season with an injury.

Later Monday, the Broncos took another hit to their wide receiver depth chart when KJ Hamler announced on Instagram that he has been diagnosed with a “mild heart irritation, called pericarditis.’’ He said he would miss some time but intended to be back on the field this season after treatment with medication.

Patrick suffered his torn ACL on Aug. 5 last year. Monday, Patrick went to the ground when he made a cut during a 7-on-7 drill and there was no defender near him.

Broncos waive KJ Hamler with NFI designation after WR diagnosed with pericarditis | NFL.com

The Broncos waived WR KJ Hamler with a non-football illness designation on Monday, per the league transaction wire. The fourth-year wideout posted on Instagram that he felt chest pains while working out prior to the start of training camp and is currently undergoing treatment for pericarditis, a mild heart irritation.

Hamler is expected to miss weeks, not months, per NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo, who initially reported the move. According to Garafolo, the transaction is procedural and designed with an eye toward Denver bringing Hamler back. Had the Broncos placed Hamler on the reserve/non-football injury list, he would’ve had to miss the entire 2023 season.

“I will be back on the field — better and stronger than ever — as soon as possible this season!” Hamler wrote on social media. “I feel great physically and this is very frustrating for me to deal with. I know most of you have heard or know of my story and these past few years what I’ve been going through on and off the field.

“I’ll get past this just like everything else on this journey! I will continue to elevate. I forever stand on business.”

Peyton Manning joins the Packers for training camp | Acme Packing Company (Packers SB Nation site)

According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Manning’s production team — Omaha Productions — was in Green Bay “to talk about a potential project.” Omaha Productions, notably, co-produced the recent Netflix series Quarterback — which followed Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota throughout the 2022 season. This very well could be a hint that new Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love could be highlighted in the second season of the series.

Earlier this month, Manning stated on The Pat McAfee Show that Netflix picked up a second year of Quarterback, but did not elaborate on who his team would target as focal points for the upcoming season.

Love’s story is certainly unique and would give the series a different perspective. There simply haven’t been many first-round quarterbacks who have sat on the bench for three years behind a future Hall of Fame quarterback in NFL history. In the first season of Quarterback, the series focused exclusively on veteran passers. Meanwhile, Love is a first-year starter who is expected to go through some of the ups and downs of being a young signal-caller in 2023.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs Training Camp: Donovan Smith now blocking for Mahomes, not Brady

“We get after it [and] we run a lot of plays,” Smith noted. “But [it’s] more so just the verbiage and operation. [When] you’re in one place for eight years, it’s a bit of a change.”

Already the proud owner of a Super Bowl ring, Smith is happy to be part of the Chiefs’ battle-tested offensive line.

“We’ve [all] played a lot of football and a lot of big games — [and] tough games,” he observed. “We’re all smart mentally [and] physically. It’s just [that] more so, we’re tying in each and every individual aspect of who we are and how we play — tying it together and figuring what works and what meshes.

“Just the many things we bring to the table per guy — I would say — is our strength. To be able to run the ball [and] pass the ball is big. We’ve got big, athletic, mobile guys, which goes a long way.”

Smith identified left guard Joe Thuney — who will be right next to him on game days — as the line’s leader.

A tweet to make you think

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