Yahoo Sports Chiefs LT Orlando Brown Jr. vows to protect Patrick Mahomes: 'He shouldn't have to run around because of me'
The Kansas City Chiefs' newest acquisition, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., had his introductory news conference on Monday, and he quickly identified what his main job will be and should be: protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I look forward to keeping [Mahomes] clean,” Brown said via ProFootballTalk. “Whether he has a broken leg, healthy leg, healthy ankle — whatever the deal is, I look forward to keeping him clean. He shouldn’t have to run around because of me, period.”
Brown knows what he has to do
During the Super Bowl, which the Chiefs lost 31-9, Mahomes had to run a lot. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave the Chiefs' offensive line an incredible amount of trouble, which led to Mahomes running 497 combined yards before making a throw or being sacked. The Bucs also sacked Mahomes three times and got in nine QB hits. Mahomes never had enough time or freedom after the ball was snapped, and that played a big role in the Chiefs' 22-point loss.
That's exactly what Brown wants to avoid in the future, and he's committed to doing the work to make it happen.
"Personally, outside of media, outside of coaches, outside of teammates, I put a lot of pressure on myself and I have very high expectations of myself," Brown said via NFL.com. "That's, as I said, keeping Pat as clean as possible, creating as many huge gaps and holes as I can in the run game, and taking care of that man across from me on a consistent basis. I want to be able to develop and gain that trust and that credibility and confidence amongst coach [Andy] Reid and [OC Eric] Bieniemy and everything, amongst my teammates as well. Understanding that, hey, just because it's an elite D-lineman over here, I don't need to slide, I don't need chip help. I want to be the best. I want to be the best to play this position in the league. I'm not there yet. I've still got a lot of work to do, but I'm gonna get there."
Brown is in a contract year; the four-year contract he signed as a third-round draft pick ends at the end of this season, and he obviously knows what he has to do to earn an extension with the Chiefs.
“I want to be here for a long time. I’m going to make sure I take care of my part,” Brown said.
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