Preseason football is upon us, and for most NFL teams, that means rookies and players on the roster bubble get the majority of the snaps, with starters sitting … but not in Kansas City.

Head coach Andy Reid stated that the plan for the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals was to have Patrick Mahomes play the first quarter, something that we know has become the norm for his team.

But putting Patrick in harm’s way isn’t ideal, given it is the first preseason; however, he has a different mindset when it comes to playing against the Cardinals on Saturday.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t necessarily look forward to getting hit,” Mahomes said. “I always like getting hit once, but it’s still a shock. Going up against Spags [Steve Spagunolo] is always tough, but it’ll be a good defense that we’re going up against, and they have a great scheme and a great coach. I’m just excited to see where we’re at. Go out there, see where we’re at, get hopefully a couple series and get go out there and then play some good football.”

The biggest thing Mahomes will be looking to get out of the first quarter is to run the offense, play clean and on time, and perhaps most importantly, don’t get injured.

We already saw with Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts the downside of playing, going down injured just minutes into the game against the Baltimore Ravens, so Mahomes and Co. will want to avoid that.

Still, Reid believes there is some benefit to playing in the preseason, but no doubt Chiefs Kingdom will want No. 15 to stay out of harm’s way.