In leading the Kansas City Chiefs’ running backs and wide receivers through a passing camp in his home state of Texas, Patrick Mahomes is getting to see what he saw only in training camp last year.
That’s a lineup that includes the team’s top three wideouts: Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown. Injuries kept Rice and Brown out for most of last season, leaving only Worthy, then a rookie.
Seeing them together again has Mahomes hopeful the Chiefs can have the big-play passing game in 2025 that they lacked last season.
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“Everything looks great right now getting the guys back and healthy,” Mahomes said. “I think the offense has a chance to be really, really good. The core group will be back in its entirety, so the goal is to try to build on it and get even better and try to get back to some of the explosive passing plays that we’ve done in years past.”
Rice was leading the NFL in catches with 24 last year through the first three games before a knee injury ended his season. After throwing to Rice in the passing camp, Mahomes said he expects the wide receiver to play like he was before the injury.
“The expectations are high,” Mahomes said. “He looks really good. He is running routes, he’s catching the football. I don’t know when we get back into the actual OTAs [in May] how much he’ll be able to do, but he’s been able to do everything here as far as running routes and everything like that.
“I know it was unfortunate how he got hurt last year, but it was so early in the season that he’s going to get pretty much a complete offseason, which I think will be big going into this season.”
The Chiefs were encouraged last year by what they saw in training camp from Brown, a free agent addition. But Brown suffered a sternoclavicular injury on the first play of the preseason and, after surgery, returned in time to play only two games in the regular season plus all three playoff games. His contributions in those five games were minimal, with 14 receptions for 141 yards.
“It’s hard to throw guys in at the end of the season and try to give him a huge role,” Mahomes said. “I was happy to have him back at the end of the season and for him to kind of get back in within the offense, but I think now with hopefully him having the full offseason and training camp and keep staying healthy and continue to [expand] his role even more. You can see when he gets to football in his hands and he has a huge role in our offense, it makes everybody go.”
Worthy wound up being the Chiefs’ leading wide receiver with 59 catches and 638 yards. He also caught two 50-yard passes in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles, but both came after the Chiefs had fallen far behind.
“We had to push the envelope, and you saw Xavier making some big plays down the field,” Mahomes said. “Trying to take a positive away from that and from the rest of the season as well is that we’ve got the guys. It’s about me trusting them, making the throws downfield and letting them make plays.”
