Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes shared a postgame hug with New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore after Monday’s game. Gilmore tested positive for COVID-19 this week, sparking a wave of concern over Mahomes’ potential exposure to the coronavirus after the game. Mahomes spoke with the local media on Wednesday, revealing his thoughts on the situation.
“I think you just have to trust in the process and the protocols that are set in place,” Mahomes said. “I mean, obviously, knowing that I went up to him after the game and just gave him a high-five like I’ve done my whole career and not thinking about it. It was a little bit of a mental lapse just trying to show sportsmanship and stuff like that. I feel like the protocols in place are good and I just have to trust in that, wear my mask, do whatever Rick (Burkholder) and them say. Just trust in, that we all know what’s happening in this world at this time and accepting the challenge every single day of being in the best place I can be to be available for the team.”
This isn’t the first possible exposure for Mahomes as Chiefs practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu tested positive for the virus ahead of the Week 4 game against the Patriots. With a pregnant fiancee at home, Mahomes says that he’s been taking all of the necessary precautions.
“It is, it’s something that I think about every day and you have to think about that with her being pregnant and kind of that high-risk category,” Mahomes said. “I just try to do my best, especially after finding out that Jordan was positive. Obviously, here we stayed six feet apart and our meeting rooms are set up to where we are far enough apart. . . When I went home over the weekend, I slept in a different bedroom and stayed away from her as much as possible until I’ve kind of gotten these negative tests back. So, I just try to do my part to try and keep myself away from her and social distance whenever stuff like this arises. The only good thing about being here every single day is I get tested every single day. So it’s good at keeping track of where I am at.”
Mahomes, who is also the Chiefs’ player representative for the NFLPA, notes that there have been discussions about moving to a bubble situation. Despite the outbreak in Tennessee and recent positive tests around the league, he still feels that the NFL can come together and prevent that from happening this season.
“If you look at the transcript baseball did and they kind of had some outbreaks early in their season. And then guys really got with the protocols and they were able to get through the season without a lot of positive tests near the end of it,” Mahomes explained. “I think that’s a really good blueprint for us. I think if we can just kind of get through, there’s kind of just been one real outbreak with a couple of positive tests here and there. If we can get with the protocols and really enforce them within each other, players and coaches, I think we can get to where we don’t have to be in that bubble situation. If it happened, I know for me, I love the game, I know how good this team is, I would do it. But I know it’s different for every individual.”
At the end of the day, it comes down to trusting and following the protocols in place for Mahomes, his teammates and the staff members.
“It’s a different time, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mahomes said. “I think you knew that coming into this season. If you thought you were going to go through the entire season without and no one was going to test positive then you had a little bit of false hope. So, you just trust that the protocols in place are the right protocols. Kind of like I said, obviously with Brittany (Matthews) being pregnant I try to do whatever I can to social distance and stay away because even being available to the team, even more for me, keeping my family safe. I just do my best staying socially distance and obviously, I had a little lapse at the end of the game, just trying to show respect to a great football player who I hope is getting better very quickly. I’ll try to keep away from that and try not to do it again.”
