[dirk digler]

Reid quotes about Mahomes

“Right now Patrick isn’t absolutely ready to play — he’s got some work to do,” Reid said. “He’s going into a great room … he can learn from Alex. We have to be patient with him. Tremendous upside. Good person, intelligent with great skill.

“We think there both really good football players. We just thought we with what we do, Mahomes would fit in well.”

Reid said the Chiefs liked Mahomes’ intelligence and ability to avoid pressure and make plays.

“Very seldom do you have a perfect pocket … in the National Football League,” Reid said. “And we thought he did that well.”

The flip side to that escapability, however, is that Mahomes hates giving up on plays, which leads to some reckless throws, despite his stellar 41-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio. But Reid said Mahomes’ “gunslinger” mentality isn’t a bad thing.

“I’ve been around the best gunslinger ever with Brett Favre,” said Reid, who was Favre’s quarterback coach in the late 1990s. “I’m not into comparisons — they’re different players. Brett’s a Hall of Fame player and this kid has a long way to go before that, but I think when you have an opportunity to talk to him and be around him, he has an energy and certain intensity you like.”

“Everybody liked this guy,” Reid said. “Couldn’t find a guy who didn’t like him … everybody fell in love with the kid and how he went about his business and how he played. That’s not something that happens every year.

“Everybody liked this guy,” Reid said. “Couldn’t find a guy who didn’t like him … everybody fell in love with the kid and how he went about his business and how he played. That’s not something that happens every year.

“We tried to bury him,” Reid said with a laugh. “We try to throw the kitchen sink at him and you try to keep it as close to what we’ll do.”

While fans might be clamoring to see Mahomes play, Reid reiterated that Smith will start.

“I don’t worry about Alex on this,” Reid said. “Alex knows we trust him. Alex is the starting quarterback. Nothing is going to change there. The kid is going to take some time. He understands that.

“But there’s gonna be a day Alex isn’t playing anymore and we’ll need someone to step in and play.”