Patrick Mahomes: Three games in 11 days “not a good feeling”

The Chiefs have a normal week leading up to Sunday’s game against the Browns, but the next two games won’t unfold under the usual circumstances.

A Saturday game against the Texans in Week 16 will be followed by a Wednesday road game against the Steelers in Week 17. That schedule was put in place because Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year and the four teams involved in games that day will all be playing three games over 11 days to get through that stretch.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he has been “tailoring my workouts” to prepare for this stretch because he knows how challenging it is going to be on him.

“It is not a good feeling,” Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “I’m excited to play on Christmas to hopefully get back from what we did last year, but you never want to play this many games in this short of time. It’s just not great for your body. But at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it.”

The Chiefs have already clinched the AFC West and they have a lead in the race for the top seed in the AFC, which mitigates some of the pressure they will feel to navigate this stretch without a misstep but everyone on the club will be more than happy to have the extended break that comes at the end of Week 17.