I found the press conferences today from Smith and Mahomes to be very telling.... the reporters asked each about what it was like preparing for their first preseason game.
On one side of the spectrum, you had Smith saying this:
Quote:
“I carried a lot of weight, a lot of anxiety,” Alex said to the media on Monday. “I was starting. A lot of expectations, I put a lot of pressure on myself. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy. If you can just go out and let your natural abilities take over and play and get out of your own way, that’s easy to say, hard to do sometimes. But, yeah, as a player, it took me a while to learn that and get past that. It is definitely what I remember looking back.”
The next question Alex was very honest again saying that Mahomes is more natural.
“Just that, right?” Alex said. “It’s just ball, go play. He’s different than me. Everybody is. He is wired different. I mean that in a good way, he is just more natural. I think he has a better grasp on it. I was pretty worked up, like I said, in starting and a lot of expectations. It is just a different place, and I think that is a positive for him. I think he is in a better place so he will be able to just go out and play.”
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Video here:
http://www.kcchiefs.com/media-center...8-494677ea750f
Then, you have Mahomes saying this:
Quote:
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“I mean my first game at Tech I came in in the fourth quarter,” Mahomes said Monday via quotes from the Chiefs. “I was a little excited and a little jumpy, but I feel like now with having Alex (Smith) in front of me and Tyler (Bray) and the guys I can kind of learn off of the them and then when my time comes I have a little more experience going into it.”
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Video here:
http://www.kcchiefs.com/media-center...d-56e3cb5cb18e
Those quotes, to me, really sound like two guys who think that the best thing for Mahomes (or any young QB) is to come in and learn with low expectations. Smith certainly sounds like a guy who is envious of Mahomes' current situation.