When Patrick Mahomes opened up about dealing with on-field mistakes as a QB: "You have to act like nothing happened"

Patrick Mahomes quickly became one of the faces of the National Football League after he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. In May 2018, after Mahomes first season as a starting quarterback, he sat down for an interview with Sports Illustrated. He answered various questions including his upbringing as his father Patrick Mahomes Sr. was a professional baseball player.

The quarterback, who was just 22-years-old at the time, went on to describe his feelings after throwing his first interception. He said one of the emotions he felt was that he was glad he got that over with. Later, he walked to the sidelines and tried to forget about it and just move on.

"On the second drive of the game, receiver De’Anthony Thomas was open and I overthrew him. I remember going to the bench and just sitting there and thinking, Well, you got that out of the way. I had been feeling jumpy and jittery and really excited when the game started, and after that interception, it’s almost like it settled me down and helped me get back into the mind-set of not trying to do too much. Those things happen in the NFL, but as a quarterback you have to minimize those. You have to have a short memory and go back out there and act like nothing happened."-Patrick Mahomes told Sports Illustrated in 2018

Mahomes also went on to credit his Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for helping him succeed and preparing him as much as possible before each game.

Patrick Mahomes said working as a scout quarterback in rookie season was a key to success

The Chiefs traded up in the first-round of the 2017 NFL Draft in order to select Patrick Mahomes with the tenth overall selection. Alex Smith was the starting quarterback at the time, but they saw Mahomes as the organization's future.

However, he didn't make his first NFL start until Week 17 against the Denver Broncos after the Chiefs had already clinched a playoff spot. Mahomes told Sports Illustrated that working as the scout quarterback during practice each week allowed him to develop. He explained he learned how to 'disect' a defense and pick up on other quarterback's ways of doing things.

"Playing the scout-team quarterback in practice really helped develop my game. When we were playing the Jets, with Josh McCown, I'd have to throw a lot of deep balls. Tyrod Taylor with the Bills, you'd have to scramble around a lot. With Tom Brady, it was about dissecting the defense. You go through other offenses, and you make them into your own, and try to make it relate to your offense. I had to do stuff I wasn’t comfortable with, and see what I liked and what I didn’t like."-Mahomes said in 2018

The Kansas City Chiefs QB said it allowed to develop and create his own style of play by studying other veteran quarterbacks throughout the NFL.

Since 2018, Mahomes has won three Super Bowls: 2020, 2023 and 2024.