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Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes training camp 2020 press conference.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes chats with football media at team training camp about the 2020 NFL season, registering to vote, buying a minority stake in the Kansas City Royals MLB team, his incredibly talented wide receivers Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, and Tyreek Hill, as well as his thoughts on rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and guard Kelechi Osemele! Video courtesy of and provided by the Kansas City Chiefs organization.

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Check out the audio and transcript below courtesy of Chiefs below:

Q: Can you offer some examples of what Sammy Watkins does for you guys and how important is was to get him back?

MAHOMES: “I mean it was extremely important, I mean to have someone of his caliber who really goes out there and plays well every single week, like you said he does so many things well. Obviously he catches the ball well, he scores for us, makes a lot of plays after contact, but also I mean just a part of blocking and running the routes hard and getting other guys open, I mean in this offense it takes every single person and I think you saw that in the playoffs when his number got called, he made big plays happen, and so it’s a guy that we love having back and that’s going to continue to help our offense progress and get better.”

Q: Where did the idea of purchasing part of the Kansas City Royals come from?

MAHOMES: “I don’t know who had the idea first, but it was something where I obviously love baseball, I grew up in clubhouses and I love everything about it. And whenever the Royals got bought last year by the Sherman’s, I wanted to be a part of it. It took a little bit of time, those things take time. It took almost a year to get all of the language right and do it at the right timing with everything going on in the world, obviously, but we were able to do it and they were able to let me join in with them and be part of something that’s going to be long term and be in Kansas City for a long time.”

Q: Over the last two years, what kind of teammate has Sammy Watkins been and if you have a story or two that can illustrate what we’re talking about here?

MAHOMES: “I mean he’s been a great teammate. He’s been someone that since day one who’s joined in that receiver room. I mean that’s the most fun room you could probably be in in this locker room, and he’s been a leader in that room and someone who’s gotten along with everybody. We as the quarterbacks, receivers, running backs and tight ends and guys we’ll usually, probably not this year, would go usually out to eat with the families, the girlfriends and we kind of all just hang out, eat dinner and sometimes go to Chicken N Pickle, play pickleball, whatever it is and so we all have great relationships in that room and in the whole offensive and defensive room and that’s what makes this team so special.”

Q: What are your first impressions of Clyde Edwards-Helaire?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, first impressions, I mean he’s a hard worker. I think that’s the first thing you can see from day one he’s always wanting to learn more, he’s always wanting to get in every single rep they get him in and he’s someone that’s gotten better every single day, so I’m excited to have him, adapt him and evolve him more and more in the offense. And as he learns more, he’ll progress and have more success every single day.”

Q: In the long term, is there any part of you that wants to own a team fully one day?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if I have thought about that fully, owning a team or whatever aspect that is, but I’m obviously very interested in all sports and being a part of sports even when hopefully a long time from now, when my sports days are over, whatever where that’s going to be at, but I want to be a part of sports for the rest of my life because it’s given so much to me as far as, obviously on the field but also off of it but being able to have a platform to go out there and be a better person every single day.”

Q: What’s your advice for people trying to register and trying to go through that process as well and taking your experience and telling them that this is important, this needs to be done but you need to follow steps to go through it?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, my advice is that first find as much information from whoever you think the best the person is to find information from, get as much information on it, make sure you’re following the steps the right way and once – kind of in my scenario, once you do go out there, you do what you think, you’re registered, how you were taught and however you kind of went through the steps, make sure you check on that, make sure everything is done the right way and then after that I would say spread the information, I mean spread the word around, make sure you can get as many people registered as possible, that’s how many people can show their voice in this nation.”

Q: How are you balancing everything happening in the news with COVID and preparing for a season and your thoughts on the Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman race?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, first off, I think the biggest thing you have to do with all 2020 is just try to make you accept every challenge of the next day. You just really – every morning you wake up knowing you’re going to have to go in with an open mind, prepared for whatever comes your way. For me, I mean that’s kind of how an athlete has to prepare for every single day, every practice, every meeting whatever it is, and so I’m going to do that, I’m going to continue to do that. Every single day I wake up it’s a blank slate, I’m going to go out there, attack it, be the best person, athlete or whatever it is that day and hopefully we keep going good as far as a football facility and as a nation we try to progress and get to the other side of this. And then the Tyreek and Mecole race, I mean obviously both the guys are super fast. I’m just lucky to have both of them. I think Tyreek got the first one, but I’m going to try to keep them from racing anymore. I’d rather them just run down the sidelines scoring touchdowns during the game week.”

Q: What do you feel you and the offense need to get the most out of these padded practices for whenever the regular season starts?

MAHOMES: “Just kind of like I said earlier I think you need to take advantage of every single rep you have. If that’s in the meeting room, if that’s on the field, that’s in practice, that’s in walk through, whatever that is, you have to take advantage of knowing that you’re not  getting those preseason games, practices are going to mean that much more and I think Coach Reid does a good job of that. I mean he’s going to put us in situations that are going to be game-like situations, he’ll try to prepare us for every single situation that we could encounter during a game and then once you do get that one situation that might not be practice, making sure you know what you need to do, and so I think having those new guys and kind of setting the  example of how we practice and how we play, I think those guys will follow right in and they’ll kind of take that standard as well. So I’m excited for the opportunity to go out and keep continuing to move forward and processing and getting to that next step of getting the pads on and getting to the season obviously.”

Q: What are your initial thoughts on the G Kelechi Osemele and what’s been the greatest challenge for you with this unique offseason getting ready where you need to be feeling mentally for the year?

MAHOMES: “I mean first of with Osemele and Mike Remmers, both those guys, both those guys they are big and they are strong and they are smart. I think those three things you need to have to come in to play on this offense and so Kelechi, I mean when he shook my hand the first time, I had to like tell him ‘easy a little bit man’, I mean just how big and strong that guy is, so I’m excited to have them. They’re learning, obviously, this offense quickly and processing quickly that’s good about having veteran guys like that but I’m excited for that competition in that room to bring the best out of everybody. I think it’s just the uncertainty. The uncertainty of every single day coming in and not knowing exactly the routine that you always have been accustom to. I think it’s a good challenge to have, dealing with diversity early in the season, even early in the offseason and trying to accept that and come out better on the other side. I think it’s going to be challenging for everybody in this league, but I’m excited for the challenge to try to go out there and show the world that we can do this the right way if we do it the safe way.”

Q: Where do you guys feel you are in training camp compared to years past?

MAHOMES: “I know the thing with where we are now versus last year, I feel like a lot of guys are still physically the shape they were in or in even better shape. I think guys really took it upon themselves during this quarantine time to keep their bodies in shape and so that was I don’t want to say it was surprising to see, but that was good to see, exciting to see when you come into camp and everybody is right where we left off at. So now it’s about the mental part of it, I mean when you’re getting these reps, I mean it’s hard to reenact these reps on Zoom meetings so as these guys are getting more and more reps, we’re putting in all these new plays, I think the coaches are doing a really good job of emphasizing the details of every single play so when we hit the field on that Thursday night, we can play fast and we can play Chiefs football.”