A couple of hours before last Sunday's season opener, Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu took the field in his warm-up gear, moved around and then consulted with trainer Rick Burkholder.
The previous day, Mathieu had been activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list, and Chiefs fans had their fingers crossed they'd see the two-time All-Pro safety take the field against the Cleveland Browns for the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mathieu hoped so, too, but it didn't happen. Mathieu was added to the team's inactive list shortly before the game. From the sidelines, he watched the Chiefs start slow but rally to edge the Browns 33-29.
Now, all systems are go for Mathieu's 2021 debut at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football.
"I was really hopeful that I could possibly get cleared before the end-of-the-week practice," Mathieu said. "It would be tough on anybody to not practice for 10 days and go out there and try to play a game. Coach (Andy) Reid and the training staff really made the best decision for me as a player."
In missing his second regular-season game for the Chiefs — he sat out with other starters in the 2020 regular-season finale — Mathieu pitched in where he could. He was part of defensive gatherings during timeouts and offered teammates his encouragement, especially early in the game. The Browns went 75, 75 and 81 yards for touchdowns on their first three possessions as the Chiefs fell behind 22-10.
The Chiefs' deficit was 29-20 early in the fourth quarter before the hosts dominated on both sides of the ball for the final few minutes.
"Obviously the game didn't start the way we wanted it to, but they made the plays that mattered," Mathieu said.
On defense, one of the biggest moments was supplied by Juan Thornhill, who filled Mathieu's role for that game. Thornhill caused a Nick Chubb fumble that was recovered by teammate Ben Niemann and became the Chiefs' first stop.
Later, defensive end Chris Jones opened a Browns possession with a sack and cornerback Mike Hughes picked off Baker Mayfield after safety Daniel Sorensen disrupted the quarterback with pressure.
Not having Mathieu on the field, making plays and communicating, undoubtedly was part of Chiefs' early malaise. That wasn't too surprising. Perhaps no one in the NFL is better at getting a defense lined up.
"I'm not sure I can express how important that is," Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. "I just came off a walk-through, and just hearing his voice ... Listen, I'm not the only who feels comfortable when he's out there. The other 10 (players) that are in there, they know he's going to get it right. They listen.
"It will be good to get him back."
Just getting back on the practice field was important to Mathieu, who said he's working his way back to 100% effectiveness.
"I think if I'm not (100% yet), I think I'm getting there," Mathieu said. "(Wednesday's) practice was pretty good for me, just going out there and having a full workload, getting back into the communication and just working with my boys.
"Any time I see those guys, my teammates, it always gives you that extra energy to kind of uplift you. So I'm just looking forward to kind of continuing to stack 'em, and then getting in front of the world on Sunday night and showing what I can do."
These are strange days for Mathieu. Recovering from an injury is one thing. Contracting COVID-19 — he tested positive on Sept. 1 — after being vaccinated was a gut-punch. The Chiefs have said they're among the the NFL's top teams when it comes to vaccination rates, and Reid said before the opener that the team was "just about 100%" vaccinated.
"I didn't think I was ever going to catch COVID," Mathieu said. "But I did. It's all about how you respond ... and I hope I respond well to my teammates."
