Since becoming the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback in 2018, Patrick Mahomes has turned the franchise into a perennial winner and rewrote the standards for young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Mahomes is fresh off his second Super Bowl title, still working and improving his craft during the offseason. That includes offseason workouts with teammates in Texas, where he also left an impression on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance who was one of the few non-Chiefs players in attendance. Mahomes and Lance’s private coach Jeff Christensen recently spoke with The Athletic’s Matt Barrows about the MVP’s influence on the third-year quarterback.
“I said, ‘Watch this. Watch what he does here; it was something I was telling him to do that he wasn’t quite doing. And then he saw Patrick apply it perfectly. And I think that visual buy-in, that mental buy-in, helped him past that mental hump.” said Christensen, “And to his credit, he just kept getting better. [Over] the last seven days, every day was a substantial jump.”
Lance’s 2022 season was his first as the starter in San Francisco, but it was cut short due to suffering a fractured ankle early in the season. Brock Purdy eventually took over with his incredible performance, leaving some doubt in Lance’s future with the 49ers.
“Pat really thinks the world of him,” said Christensen. “He’s just a really good person, conscientious. He wants to be great. And he’s one of the few kids whose actions match his words. He backs it up. He shows up every day, and he wants to learn. And that’s why I teach him.”
Mahomes has quickly evolved into a veteran quarterback that is being viewed as a mentor for the younger crop around the league. Christensen jokingly referenced a reminder of his maturity on what he observed about the duo possibly growing a social relationship.
“Patrick’s got two babies now,” said Christensen. “He’s changing diapers, burping babies, chasing dogs, hitting golf balls, and trying to keep up with Travis Kelce. So he’s a little busy.”
