Some quarterbacks are like Tom Brady — they’ll throw blocks in plays even when their teams are up by, say, 23 points.
But others, like Patrick Mahomes, are not about to sacrifice their extremely valuable bodies even if it means they’ll get destroyed for it in the locker room or on the Internet. And there’s no shame in that! The QB position is the most vital, and when it comes to Mahomes and a season that may shape up to be historically unreal, it’s the right call to stay out of the way of a block on a screen pass.
Here’s a play from Sunday in which Mahomes had the chance to block for Mecole Hardman and then decided against it:
So what went through his mind when he decided to slide? From Pro Football Talk:
After the game, I asked him by phone whose voice he heard in his head before he decided in that instant to not actually throw a block.
“I didn’t hear anyone,” Mahomes said with a laugh. “But I saw Earl Thomas coming.”
Instead of giving Thomas a free, clear, and clean shot at blowing up the 2018 MVP, Mahomes did the prudent thing.
Making the move more important for Mahomes was, as he said during the phone call, the fact that his ankle, injured two weeks ago against the Jaguars, is still bothering him. Other body parts may have been bothering him if he had tried to take on Earl Thomas.
Smart man. Also worth noting: Mahomes is doing all this with some pain in his ankle? Wow.
