(ap) Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was on every call involving the NFL Players Association and took a significant role in putting in place the return-to-play protocols for training camp.
So while he acknowledges ”some risk” in returning to the team facility on Saturday, when Mahomes joined rookies and select veterans for the start of his camp, he also felt comfortable in knowing the environment would be as safe as possible.
The Chiefs and Texans, who meet in NFL’s regular-season opener, were given the go-ahead to allow rookies to report to training camp last Monday. But the week mostly involved COVID-19 testing for the rookies, and the veterans will likewise go through a similar period of testing before they begin more typical meetings and workouts.
Mahomes says he is ready to restart the process.
The Chiefs will be without offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif who was the first player to voluntarily opt out Friday night. Duvernay-Tardif has been practicing medicine in the fight against COVID-19 during the offseason and chose to remain in Canada and continue in that role rather than returning to Kansas City and helping the Chiefs defend their Super Bowl title.
