Why Chiefs Locked In, Didn’t Get Away, During Mini-Bye

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There are two schools of thought for an NFL team during extra time off, as the Chiefs had following their Thanksgiving loss in Dallas.

Step away to refresh the mind, or rack the brain to right the ship. To a man on Wednesday, the Chiefs said they utilized the break by attending the University of Correcting Mistakes.

andy reid, patrick mahome — Aug 22, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks with head coach Andy Reid after a play against the Chicago Bears during the first half of the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

“Yeah, so I advised coaches,” Andy Reid said Wednesday, “it’s time to go back and give them some answers to things which are positive.

“And then, let's go! You're in the month of December, and you're still in it, so let's go. That's what's important.”

Constant communication with coaches

What’s important to Patrick Mahomes is constant communication, before, during and especially after games. The quarterback said he took the weekend to offer coaches gameplan thoughts for Houston on Sunday Night Football (7:20 p.m. CT, NBC/KSHB-TV, Channel 41, 96.5 The Fan), and to brainstorm eradicating debilitating miscues.

Watch Mahomes Discuss Below

“I’m always talking to Coach,” the quarterback said Wednesday. “Obviously we're in a spot in the season where you can have some time off, but you're looking ahead at how to get yourself better, to try to make a run.

“And I'll talk to all the coaches about things that I see and things that I think we can continue to get better and better at. At the end of the day, they're gonna do what's best for us and put us in the best situation to succeed. And I'll give as much input as I can to help with that, but I trust they're going to go out there and put us in the right position.”

No one left town

All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie could’ve gone to Cancun, could’ve slept most of the weekend or even binge-watched Season 5 of Stranger Things. Instead, he was locked in on fighting for a fleeting berth in the AFC playoffs.

“No, I stayed,” he said. “I stayed around, watched film, got the body right. I feel like bye weeks are really the only time I kind of get away. But these little, long breaks, I feel like, it's just a good time not only to just mentally kind of realize where you're at in the season, but also just get off your feet.”

“And kind of hang with the guys, kind of stay around, do some things around here, and just stay into football.”

The Chiefs are used to unconventional season schedules, having played on most days of the week since they began their stretch of five Super Bowl berths in six years. And part of that is another mini-bye following their second Thursday game, Christmas night against the Broncos in Week 17.

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