Mahomes wants Chiefs to 'keep building' toward rare Super Bowl repeat
Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes reported for training camp Tuesday and is already thinking about how the reigning Super Bowl champions can keep competing in a stacked AFC.
"The thing this year is how we can keep building?" the quarterback said, according to NFL.com's Michael Baca. "Obviously, we won the Super Bowl last year and it was amazing, but we still have a lot of young guys, and we want to continue to get better and better. You look around the AFC, everyone has gotten better. So you want to continue to build and build and not be satisfied with what we did last year and see if we can take that next step."
The New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, among other AFC teams, significantly improved their rosters this offseason. New York made headlines when it traded for four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile, Baltimore re-signed quarterback Lamar Jackson, added two new starting receivers, and hired Todd Monken as the new offensive coordinator.
Kansas City won its second Super Bowl with Mahomes in February. Only seven NFL franchises have ever lifted the Lombardi Trophy in back-to-back years - the New England Patriots were the most recent club to achieve the feat in 2003-04. Led by Mahomes, Kansas City reached consecutive big games in 2019-20 but fell short against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV after winning the previous campaign.
The Chiefs, who've hosted the AFC title game for five straight seasons, bolstered their offense by signing tackles Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith and drafting wide receiver Rashee Rice in the second round. Defensively, the AFC West club used a first-round pick on defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Kansas City also signed lineman Charles Omenihu.
"I'm always confident that we have a chance to get to the Super Bowl, but I understand it's a process, I understand it's not easy," Mahomes added. "We want to have a special group that kinda can carry out a legacy, and I think we have the right guys and now let's just go out there and do it."
The quarterback also addressed the ankle injury that bothered him for most of the playoffs, saying it "feels great" ahead of the new season.
"Going into OTAs a little bit, I was still a little timid about running and cutting and doing stuff like that," Mahomes said. "But when I got closer to that minicamp and that later OTA stage, I got the confidence back in my ankle. I'm sure I'm not gonna be running a lot right now, but we'll be testing it a lot."
The Chiefs kick off the 2023 season against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7.
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