Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Xavier Worthy open full-squad camp with viral deep throw

Look, it was only the first day of the Chiefs’ full-squad training camp. It was one catch — in shorts and no pads — with the season opener still more than six weeks away.

That’s the rational, not-as-much-fun way to look at what happened on Missouri Western’s campus Sunday. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes rolled to his left, stopped, then uncorked an across-his-body heave that found rookie receiver Xavier Worthy more than 60 yards away in the end zone.

Coach Andy Reid’s quotes about Worthy about an hour later ended up being what you might’ve expected, given the coach’s nature to strive for proper perspective. He said the rookie Worthy has been working hard. It looks like he’s doing better following a hamstring injury. This is just one day out of 12 playbook install periods. Yes, there’s a long way to go.

However, social media video of the play perhaps gives a better indication of what this moment meant for the Chiefs.

And also what it could portend for the future.

For instance, one angle shows Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy at the bottom of the screen after the pass is completed. He is all-out dancing. He starts with both hands in the air, then whirls a fist-pump uppercut that propels his body sideways. After that, he starts some literal high-stepping on the field in celebration with his arms in a swimming motion.

All this from the 46-year-old offensive coordinator.

Also watch future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, who puts both arms up in a flex after seeing the catch before gyrating his chest and legs forward in jubilation.

The Chiefs have desperately wanted to see this type of deep completion over the past two years.

And while this wasn’t the regular season, it at least showed the possibilities if the first-round Worthy develops as hoped.

“He’s come with that speed, man, so I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have him on a lot of things going deep,” Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman said after Sunday’s practice. “So I think now, it’s just getting the chemistry with him and Pat going, and hopefully, we can translate that onto the season.”

The completion was Sunday’s biggest highlight, and it also went viral across the NFL landscape. Some fan-account videos posted to the platform X had more than one million views in hours, and the NFL’s main account also shared one clip of the catch.

KC trying to improve on deep throws was already going to be one of training camp’s most prominent storylines — and for good reason. Mahomes, while winning consecutive Super Bowls, has completely reinvented himself in recent seasons to cater to the pieces around him; after ranking fifth in the NFL in average depth of target in 2018 (9.2 yards), Mahomes was next-to-last among all signal-callers in that same stat in 2023.

The Chiefs set out to change that this offseason. They added speedy Hollywood Brown in free agency. They traded up to get Worthy, who set a new 40-yard dash record at the Combine, in the draft’s first round.

Meanwhile, Reid has often needled Mahomes during summer practices whenever he’s made a safer decision to check a pass down instead of going deep.

The message is clear: The Chiefs want to be bombers again this season, while unleashing the fuller version of Mahomes’ skill-set.

If Sunday is any indication, it doesn’t appear that he’s lost the ability.

Replays showed the pass going from Mahomes’ own 40 to the opposite end zone in the air. All this while fading off his back foot.

He still needed help on the other end. Worthy looks up for the ball halfway through its flight and adjusts accordingly, angling his route efficiently to give himself a chance at grabbing it over safety Bryan Cook.

“He’s got a lot more information coming at him — and formations and shifts and motions and all that stuff,” Reid said, talking about Worthy’s practices coming up. “But he did a nice job today.”

Yes, it’s just one play on the first practice. Worthy will have to prove that the hamstring injury that kept him out of Organized Team Activities and minicamp this summer doesn’t linger. And he’ll have to keep up as he’s inundated with more of the playbook in future days.

But for one day, the biggest cheer from fans came after he tracked down a Mahomes pass way downfield.

The type of play that’s been almost completely absent from the team for two years running.

“I think he’s doing good. He’s still working to get better,” Hardman said of Worthy. “I’m glad to see him out here doing his thing.”