KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After three days of will-he or won't-he mystery, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said quarterback Patrick Mahomes won't play Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers.
“He just wasn't ready right now,” Reid said. “That was our decision, not his. He wanted to play right after it happened, but it's just he needs a little bit of time there.“
Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap during the team's win at Denver last Thursday. Amid reports Mahomes could miss three weeks of action, the quarterback surprisingly took part in practice the last three days as the team prepared for the Packers.
The quarterback participated in stretching and individual drills during the portion of practice open to the media. Reid didn't elaborate on the details of how much work Mahomes did during practice or if he took reps during the team portion
“He did quite a bit, yeah,” Reid said. “He did quite a bit. He's close.”
Mahomes is one of seven Chiefs who won't play on Sunday. Reid also ruled out defensive end Frank Clark (neck), defensive tackle Chris Jones (groin), left tackle Eric Fisher (groin), left guard Andrew Wylie (ankle) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (thumb).
The absence of Mahomes means the Chiefs will go with veteran Matt Moore as their starter with rookie Kyle Shurmur backing him up. This week the club designated Chad Henne to return from injured reserve, but he can only practice with the club for now. He's eligible to return as soon as next week.
Moore didn't join the Chiefs until near the end of the preseason after Henne went on injured reserve with a broken ankle. He carries a 15-15 record as a starter in 11 NFL seasons. Moore completed 10-of-20 passing for 117 yards and a touchdown in relief of Mahomes against Denver last week.
“He's done a nice job taking the reps and working through it,” Reid said. “This is the first he's done this. It's just a matter of picking everything up and going. It looks like he feels comfortable, he got in there and executed well.”
