Patrick Mahomes Admits He Ran Too Much Last Season, Jokes He’ll “Just Hand It Off to K9” This Year

Patrick Mahomes has plans to rely more on new running back Kenneth Walker who won the MVP award in the last Super Bowl.

Patrick Mahomes Admits He Ran Too Much Last Season, Jokes He’ll “Just Hand It Off to K9” This Year

Patrick Mahomes (Image via IMAGO)

Patrick Mahomes reported back to the Kansas City Chiefs facility on Friday, July 24. After practice, Mahomes faced the media and joked that he ran too much last season.

Mahomes has always been a smart user of his feet. But last year was a little different. He took off with the ball in his hand more often than previous years. He racked up career highs of 422 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns.

In the new season, however, the 30-year-old signal-caller plans to delegate the runs to his new teammate Kenneth Walker.

I plan to be able to do everything I can afford [to do]. I have been doing that stuff… I am obviously gonna try an take care of myself a little better than I did last season. I think ran a little too much last season in general. I will try to be better with that. If all of it fails, I will give [the ball to] K9 [Walker].

Patrick Mahomes said

The Chiefs signed Walker in the offseason, days after he won a Super Bowl ring with the Seattle Seahawks. Walker was the Super Bowl MVP.

Back in November, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took a surprise dig at Mahomes for not following his on-field calls.

The runs are being called. Sometimes they get turned into passes in today’s world… You know, that’s how it goes.

Andy Reid said after the Chiefs lost 22-19 against rivals the Denver Broncos

Mahomes acknowledged Reid’s criticism, but he also hinted that the Chiefs lacked a proper target man up front for him to take chances with the deep balls.

I’m just not making the throws, is pretty much the biggest thing. Guys are getting open and giving me chances to make the plays down the field… You hit one deep throw and all of a sudden the offense opens up and then you’re able to hit other throws as well.

Mahomes said
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Patrick Mahomes shares the importance of deep passes

Mahomes built his career around excellent red-zone passes to his wide receivers for touchdowns. But gone are those days when Tyreek Hill zoomed past defenders in the goal area.

Patrick Mahomes Admits He Ran Too Much Last Season, Jokes He'll "Just Hand It Off to K9" This Year
Patrick Mahomes (Image via IMAGO)

The Chiefs have capable receivers on their roster. Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Royals, and rookie Cyrus Allen possess unique skills, but it’s difficult to quantify them as deep-ball threats. Thornton was Mahomes’ main slot receiver last season, but once Rice returned, he barely saw the field anymore.

New offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has a tough task of turning them into Mahomes’ main marksman. More importantly, they need to have a safe pair of hands. Mahomes is more than capable of finding them.

Whenever the deep ball is there, you have to hit it. At the end of the day, that just comes down to me throwing the ball and giving guys chances to make plays… If we can do that, as well as the run game, I think we can get back to being a dynamic offense.

Mahomes said

Patrick Mahomes cleared for training camp

The Chiefs had very little chance of squeezing into the playoffs as a wildcard team, but as long as they had Mahomes playing quarterback, they could dream. However, that dream was shattered in Week 15 when Mahomes tore his ACL in one of his mazey runs.

Mahomes underwent surgery, which ended his season. The Chiefs missed the playoff for the first time since he had taken over as the starting quarterback.

Nearly eight months since the surgery, Mahomes has been cleared for full participation at training camp.

Pat’s doing great with his [rehab]. Right now, he’s got clearance to practice and do all the different periods that we have in this camp. We’ll just take it day by day and see how he does. He’ll have plenty of eyes on him from coaches to trainers to doctor.

Coach Reid said via NBC Sports

Earlier in the offseason, Mahomes agreed to restructure his 10-year $450 million contract. With this, the Chiefs roughly saved $43.6 million in 2026 cap space.

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