Patrick Mahomes backed to lead Kansas City Chiefs resurgence as he makes return from injury
Andy Reid says Travis Kelce "acts like he's going to play forever" as the tight end prepares for his 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs, who welcome Patrick Mahomes back from last year's season-ending injury; the Chiefs begin their campaign against the Denver Broncos on Monday night
Thursday 10 September 2026 13:39, UK
Patrick Mahomes is back, Travis Kelce is braced for a potential swansong and Andy Reid has buried the disappointment of last season as his Kansas City Chiefs eye a resurgence in 2026.
The Chiefs missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2014 last year while seeing their streak of nine straight AFC West division titles and seven straight AFC Championship Game appearances come to an end.
Reid's side entered the 2025 campaign having won three of five Super Bowl trips in six years as one of football's greatest modern dynasties, missing out on a historic three-peat after losing to the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
A down year was capped by a season-ending injury to Mahomes in December that saw the quarterback require surgery on a torn ACL and LCL. He is now scheduled to make his return against the Denver Broncos on Monday night.
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"He's doing great," Reid told Sky Sports this offseason. "He spent seven hours a day here the whole offseason. And just busted his tail to make sure, within reason, within what the doctor's restrictions were, that he would maximize everything. And he did that.
"They keep track of him and then they give him the goals. We have a physical therapist here, Julie, that sets a standard for him. And then he has to reach that and then she won't let him go past that."
Rightly or wrongly, Mahomes will be greeted by more questions than ever before in his glittering NFL career as he returns from his first major injury layoff and his worst statistical campaign since entering the league.
By his history-making standards the three-time Super Bowl MVP has piloted a declining offense over the past two seasons, but there remains zero doubt among teammates over the man leading their charge.
"Pat is the best quarterback in the league, ain't much more we need to say about Pat," Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones told Sky Sports.
Chiefs guard Trey Smith, who signed a four-year, $94m contract extension in July, is among those tasked with protecting Mahomes upon his return, starting with a second-ranked Denver Broncos defense that led the league with 68 sacks.
"The dude's awesome, he makes it easy," Smith told Sky Sports. "He's a field general out there. He's just creative, but he's able to extend plays so much. So understand that you have an egg timer in your head going off. You have to block the guys until the last whistle.
"It's great to have him back. He's definitely a team leader. From day one when I stepped in this building, it was evident that he's one of our top guys and the talent shows for itself.
"And obviously being able to have him back is going to help us move that much further. All the guys are doing that in this place, they're doing a phenomenal job as well, but really excited to have him back."
Reid pointed towards his team's traffic light system, and the freedom Mahomes' off-script, out-of-structure creativity grants him to stretch the boundaries. Once the string-puller to a tricky-brimming offense that re-wrote league-wide trends, Mahomes' return comes with hopes of Kansas City rediscovering their spark.
"It gives you an opportunity to open things up a little bit," said Reid. "Within reason. Still got to execute, and so there's some red lights there that you got to stop at, but it sure allows you to have a long, long green light.
"There's certain things you can't do. And I don't say can't very often, but there's just certain things that we can't have. But other than that, the green light means you can go. And then that yellow light, we extend it for you a little bit. So it might be cautious, but we're okay. We extend it."
Kelce back for more
Mahomes will have Travis Kelce at his disposal once more after the veteran tight end delayed retirement to sign a contract extension that would eventually become worth three years and $54.7m.
He may not quite pose the same game-dictating threat, but Kelce did lead all Chiefs with 851 receiving yards last season. After deliberation, he decided there was more football left in him.
"He acts like he's going to play forever," said Reid. "So I don't even think about it, I don't worry about it. We just go and I'm going to use him up.
"If it's his last year, he's going to get used up for this year. If it's two years, we'll use him up for both years because he works his tail off and does a great job."
Speaking on his podcast "New Heights", Kelce credited Mahomes' determination and frustration throughout his recovery as inspiration for his decision to play on, such is his desire to continue serving his quarterback.
The Chiefs wouldn't quite feel the same without him.
"87 is going to go in the raptures," said Jones. "Just the amount of success and the leadership he's brought to this team, the amount of the energy.
"This thing without Travis Kelce, I can't imagine it. Hopefully he'll go back for another year. Hopefully this isn't his last.
"Yeah we got to bring Kelce back. That's the guy. He's the soul of the team."
'Different team, same expectations'
The Chiefs strengthened on offense in free agency this year by signing running back Kenneth Walker III in the wake of his Super Bowl-winning campaign with the Seattle Seahawks. They meanwhile re-signed veteran corner L'Jarius Sneed and spent the sixth overall pick on LSU corner Mansoor Delane, their highest draft pick since selecting Mahomes 10th overall in 2017.
Reid's side won't forget the shortcomings of last season, but insist they will not dwell on them in a league capable of turning the tide in a flash.
"Its definitely frustrating," Smith added. "We didn't reach any of our goals. As long as I've been here we've always been doing AFC Championship or better, so obviously falling short it's not a good feeling. It left a bad taste in our mouths. And something that we have to address and just be better from.
"You're going to get challenged. Going to AFC Championship or better every single year is not normal. It's the NFL, so you had an NFL moment, but you can learn a lot from your losses. Feelings you have, you know, don't forget that, and you obviously don't want to experience that again."
The Chiefs surrendered their monopoly on the AFC West last season as Sean Payton and Bo Nix's Broncos produced a 14-3 record on their way to clinching the No 1 seed in the conference. Kansas City's 6-11 record marked their worst since going 2-14 in 2012.
"Sometimes you have your ups and downs, but you're able to learn a lot through it," said Jones. "I think we learned a lot last year. It didn't go the way we planned it. But I think it was a wake-up call to not only players, but organisation. And we've got a lot of young talent here.
"Different teams, same expectations. Win the AFC West, have the playoff games at home, and then make it to the Super Bowl. So I think those is that order right there. And it starts with Monday night against Denver."
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