Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s first business trip of the 2024 NFL season has begun. The Kansas City Chiefs have arrived in Jacksonville for their first preseason game.
The three-time Super Bowl winner wore a beige silk jersey, a black hat and his new mustache as he walked into Jaguar Football Stadium.
Mahomes, meanwhile, wore his usual sunglasses and a red jersey with the team logo on it.
To mark the occasion, the Chiefs referred to Kelce as “summertime Trav” and Mahomes as “Polo Pat” on their social media account.
The competition comes after Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift and her fans faced a terror threat in Austria this week.
The photo of Mahomes’ arrival in Jacksonville was adorned with the Oakley sunglasses logo
The tight end, who won the Super Bowl three times, wore a beige silk jersey
Austrian authorities announced Friday that they have made a third arrest in connection with a foiled plot to attack three now-cancelled Swift concerts. Meanwhile, disappointed fans tried to charm Vienna by exchanging friendship bracelets and singing the pop star’s songs in the streets.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old, planned to shoot at spectators gathered outside the Ernst Happel Stadium — as many as 30,000 a night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said.
A 15-year-old was also questioned but not arrested. Their names were not released, in line with Austrian privacy rules.
Swift will still travel to London’s Wembley Stadium for five concerts between August 15 and 20 to conclude the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour.
In Jacksonville, Kelce and Mahomes are expected to be in action Saturday night against the Jaguars.
“Ones for a quarter, twos in the second quarter, threes in the third quarter, fours in the fourth quarter,” head coach Andy Reid said Wednesday of how he plans to split playing time against the Jaguars. “We’ll just keep it that way.”
Reid’s philosophy on pre-season preparation may be in contrast to that of many teams when it comes to practice matches.
It has become common to see some of the NFL’s biggest stars, especially the starting quarterbacks, not playing on their home team or in one of the exhibition games.
However, Reid prefers his players to get some live action.
“I let them get into a rhythm,” Reid said. “The ones that know how to do it, both sides of the ball, they know how to do it. Somewhere you’ve got to step up and shoot, and they’ll have a chance to do it.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is pleased with the playing time he’s getting against the Jaguars.
Don’t be surprised, though, if Mahomes is sidelined after a series or two.
Kelce was thrilled when he was spotted by cameras on his way to the stadium
Mahomes played a total of six snaps in the 2023 season opener against the New Orleans Saints. He played a total of 11 plays against the Chicago Bears in 2022 and four snaps against the San Francisco 49ers in 2021.
Mahomes doesn’t mind not being able to play at the end of the summer, joking that he doesn’t mind getting hit by a defender during preseason.
“I always want to get hit, but not hard,” Mahomes said. “So if I can just throw the ball and one of those defensive ends wants to give me a little push, that’s all I need, so it’s fine.”
“I enjoy playing in pre-season, honestly. Going in, we try to make sure we do things the right way and coming out, we try to keep everyone healthy.”
The Chiefs hope to achieve Mahomes’ comments about execution and injury prevention in Jacksonville.
On the former, the Chiefs want to evaluate players who are competing for a starting or roster spot.
And that match is their first chance to show what they can do.
“All these young guys, I love watching them compete,” Reid said. “The higher the draft picks, the more they get into it. A little bit better competition, so I want to see how they handle that.”
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo agreed with Reid.
“Guys who haven’t had much time there, I want to see them,” Spagnuolo said. “You know all those young guys.
“I mean, I told them in the meeting, the guys that I hang out with that are here, I know which guys are tough and which guys are fake tough. I mean, I’m trying to figure out if guys are tough enough to play in this league and do the things that we need to do.”