KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t drafted a quarterback in the first round in 34 years, so naturally there will be a good deal of public attention trained on the new guy, Patrick Mahomes II.
The Chiefs are doing everything they can to put the focus back where they believe it belongs, on starting quarterback Alex Smith. The latest example came after practice Tuesday, when wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was asked whether he watched Mahomes when it was his turn in drills.
"I've got a chance to catch with him a little bit," Maclin said. "Clearly, everybody knows he has a big arm. But also everybody knows this is Alex’s team. I think it’s going to benefit him to learn from Alex and being able to see how Alex approaches things and his mindset with everything. I think it’s a win-win situation.
"I think the kid is definitely going to have a bright future, but right now I know we’re riding with Alex."
There’s no doubt Maclin, his teammates and coaches believe in Smith. Despite drafting Mahomes, a move aimed more toward the future than 2017, the Chiefs, with their actions and their words, appear as committed to Smith for the upcoming season as they've been since trading for him in 2013.
But the measures they’re taking to communicate that seem to indicate the Chiefs are concerned about the public perception of a locker room divided about which quarterback they should play and about how any public pressure to play Mahomes might affect Smith.
Almost from the moment Mahomes was drafted, the Chiefs went into defense mode regarding Smith.
"Alex is the starting quarterback," coach Andy Reid said on the night the Chiefs drafted Mahomes. "Nothing is going to change there.
"Right now, Patrick is not absolutely ready to play. He’s got some work to do, but he’s coming into a great room. He gets an opportunity to learn from Alex Smith, which will be a phenomenal experience for him to learn the offense, so we have to be patient with him. Definitely, [Mahomes is] not a finished product right now, but he has tremendous upside. We think he'll fit into this offense very well. He's a good person. He's intelligent. He's got great skill, and I just think he'll be a great Kansas City Chiefs player when it's all said and done."
To illustrate the point that the Chiefs are taking things slowly with Mahomes, he was the third quarterback in their first full-squad practice Tuesday, behind Smith and Tyler Bray.
Maclin is among the Chiefs to publicly applaud that approach.
"There's no rush," he said. "There’s no rush to get [Mahomes] out there and have him thrown into the fire. You’ve seen guys handle that. I’m not saying he couldn’t handle that, but if you don’t have to rush it, why rush it? Alex is a great quarterback. He has a lot of great years left. And we’re right there. We came up a little short last year, but I think we’re moving in the right direction."
It’s obviously important to the Chiefs to establish that position publicly.
"Clearly, when you take a quarterback in the first round there’s always speculation about this, speculation about that," Maclin said. "But the good thing about coach Reid and his track record is that when he says something, he means it. We’re going to rally behind that.
"This is Alex’s show. We’re all behind him. I look forward to us taking that next step as a team. Like I said, we’re close. We’ve got to take that next step."
The situation has the potential to be awkward, with the Chiefs acquiring the quarterback they believe to be Smith’s eventual replacement. So Smith in an interview last week said he appreciated the support of his teammates and coaches.
"Any of that extracurricular stuff that maybe goes on elsewhere doesn’t take place here,’’ he said. “That’s just kind of the environment we have."
That’s the environment within. In the public environment, the discussion about when Mahomes might become the starter will continue, and it will only become louder when the season starts if Smith isn’t playing well or the Chiefs aren’t winning.