KANSAS CITY, Aug. 11 -- Seven months after the ACL tear that stopped him at midfield in December, Patrick Mahomes ran full 11-on-11 drills at Chiefs camp last week, and Andy Reid described it, with characteristic understatement, as "a positive." That qualifier - not great, not back to normal, just positive - carries the story of where Kansas City stands as the 2026 NFL preseason opens. The Chiefs enter this week carrying a 6-11 record from 2025, the worst season Mahomes has had as a professional, and a rehabilitation timeline that Reid has been deliberately vague about.

Across the conference, in Jacksonville, the numbers are running the other way. Trevor Lawrence ranked third in expected points added per dropback and fifth in QBR in the ...