Reid makes it official: Mahomes sits out the preseason

Andy Reid said Thursday that the percentages probably lean against Patrick Mahomes playing in any preseason game, which is about as close to a decision as you'll get this early in August. The knee is recovering on schedule — Mahomes received full clearance for camp participation two weeks ago — and Reid isn't going to risk it for a dress rehearsal. That part is straightforward.

The part that isn't straightforward is what Mahomes misses by sitting. He's coming off a torn ACL and LCL. He hasn't played live football since December. And the receiving corps he'll be throwing to in Week 1 is, as I've been noting all camp, a work in progress at best. Xavier Worthy remains Questionable. The group that was already thin going into camp has been further tested by the injury attrition of the last two weeks.

The conservative call protects the franchise. It also means Mahomes walks into a regular-season opener having rebuilt chemistry with a depleted, shuffled receiver room almost entirely in practice. That's a real tradeoff, not a minor one — especially for a team that spent 2025 losing games it had the talent to win.