Patrick Mahomes sets challenge for Xavier Worthy as Chiefs begin training camp - "We're going to push you to the limit"
Patrick Mahomes has a message for his newest wideout. In April's draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected record-breaking speedster Xavier Worthy 28th overall after a trade-up with the conference rival Buffalo Bills. He is currently competing for a starting spot alongside the rest of the team's corps, including Marquise Brown, Rashee Rice and Mecole Hardman, among others.
Speaking on Tuesday during the commencement of preseason camp, the star quarterback said Worthy would need to impress greatly to make it to the first 11.
Per Charles Goldman, Mahomes said:
"There's no easing. He's going to have to be ready to go. There's a lot of competition. Xavier got a lot of mental work in these last few weeks he had during OTAs and minicamp, but it's time to go now. Y'all saw Rashee (Rice) last year and the 'throwing up days' he had. We're going to push you to the limit to get yourself ready to go for the season. That's not just him. That's everybody."
ESPN's Chris Clay predicts he will catch 56 of 90 targets for 754 yards and six touchdowns.
Patrick Mahomes says 2023 regular season "wasn't fun" before Super Bowl victory
As the new season intensifies, Patrick Mahomes has much more time to reflect on the past.
The 2023-24 season was something of an anomaly for the Chiefs. There were plenty of offensive struggles throughout, which were first foreshadowed in the kickoff game against the Detroit Lions. That afternoon, the wide receiver unit dropped multiple passes (one was even returned for a pick-six).
Further home losses against the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills were marked by the same issue, and the team regressed to the midpack in scoring.
However, the defense was another story, ranking second in scoring and carrying the Chiefs to another divisional title and run to another Super Bowl title. Chris Jones once again had double-digit sacks despite missing said kickoff game amidst a contract holdout, while Trent McDuffie broke out as an All-Pro cornerback alongside L'Jarius Sneed.
Looking back, Mahomes now believes that the regular season and the playoffs are two completely different stories. In that same preseason scrum, he said:
"Obviously, the end result was awesome, but I think a lot of us still have a weird feeling in our mouth. We really didn't play football the way we wanted to play all year long. It wasn't fun.
"Every single week, having to try to just continue to just get better and better and the results not paying off the way you want it to... We have a lot of the same guys back and they know how that feels."
The team's first preseason game is at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 10.