KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs didn't practice on Monday and had time off in the evening, but it didn't necessarily mean a night away from football for Patrick Mahomes.
“When you’re at the house, if you're not looking at the playbook, you’re usually watching some football,” Mahomes said. “It was good to be able to see games like that and also just stay in tune with football and everything going on.”
The San Francisco 49ers visited the Denver Broncos in a preseason game. That mean Mahomes got a chance to watch the team he faces Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium as well as division rival he'll see twice during the regular season.
“You’re getting to see those guys and see them play on the big stage and see who’s making the big plays and who's doing what,” Mahomes said. “You always watch those games, especially when they’re on TV.”
Defensive end Frank Clark feels the same way. Even though training camp and the preseason zaps plenty of time and energy, he feels it's important to spend a lot of time in the preseason watching other games.
“I can't stress how important it is to be watching film right now and going back into your notes and studying,” Clark said.
Clark encourages younger teammates to take notes on every game they play.
“You got to understand you're going to play these same teams and same people throughout your years in the league,” Clark said. “When you get to year four, year five, year six, you've got notes. Imagine how many notes you've got from playing 16 games or 21 games or 20 games deep.”
When watching preseason games and film this time of year, Clark revisits his notes to see what worked in the past and what new information he can add to his collection.
“Now you can bring all these notes together,” Clark said. “You can look at strengths and weakness. You can look at what you did for this game to help win.”
The 49ers are a team Clark knows well from the past four seasons in Seattle facing San Francisco twice a season in the NFC West. His Seahawks won seven of eight regular-season games against the 49ers. He's tallied 3 1/2 sacks against the 49ers, and his 21 total tackles and 11 quarterback hits against are the most he has against any opposing team.
“You don't think I've got notes on them?” Clark asked. “You don't know I've got notes on (49ers left tackle) Joe Staley? I know exactly what to do against them. I know exactly how to beat their O-linemen. There's things you've got to understand about the football game to help yourself out.”
Clark says he expects opponents like Staley to do their homework on him as well.
“I'm sure he does,” Clark said with a laugh. “They all do. They can't stop it though.”
