Patrick Mahomes' expected clearance won't end Chiefs' biggest challenge

Patrick Mahomes spent his entire offseason with a single goal in mind: to be healthy for the start of the Kansas City Chiefs season. After attacking his rehab for the last seven months, it sounds like he's going to clear that goal with plenty of time to spare.

Chiefs rookies and quarterbacks report to training camp in St. Joseph on Friday, July 24, and the early days of camp will be spent getting player updates on everyone—Mahomes included—via preseason physicals, etc. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Mahomes is expected to be cleared fully at the start of training camp. Mahomes has been recovering from surgery to repair torn knee ligaments suffered in a late-December loss to the L.A. Chargers in '25.

Breer's report is the best possible news for the Chiefs at this point, but the hedging in Breer's report is worth a closer look. There's a very real difference between fully cleared and carrying a full workload. Even if Mahomes passes his physical, as expected, without any concerns, Breer says he also expects the Chiefs to hold Mahomes back to some degree due to Mahomes' own demeanor.

Chiefs Kingdom is already aware that Mahomes practically lived at the team's facilities this spring in order to recover as fast as possible. During offseason training activities, Mahomes participated in some individual drills and 7-on-7 work but sat out 11-on-11 drills entirely. As Breer reports, he told people around him that "it was killing him not to be out there."

"This is such a competitive athlete that if you tell him to go, he's going to go," Breer said. "And I think you saw that in spurts in the offseason program."

Given the grueling nature of training camp under head coach Andy Reid, it's natural to question how much Mahomes will be allowed to participate. It feels reasonable to expect Mahomes to watch more of the team's preseason games from the sideline this time around, even if all signs point toward a full recovery on his part. The challenge will be managing Mahomes' load—giving him time to trust the knee, giving him reps for game readiness, giving him boundaries to keep his competitive nature at bay.

It might be difficult for Mahomes to not be out there watching his teammates grind out the long, hot days at Missouri Western State University, but the Chiefs have one date in mind: September 14 against the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs are already expecting good news coming into camp, and they're going to want to keep it that way—to the extent they can control such things.

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This article was originally published on arrowheadaddict.com as Patrick Mahomes' expected clearance won't end Chiefs' biggest challenge.