Sean Payton: Broncos Preparing for Best Version of Patrick Mahomes in Season Opener

The Denver Broncos are preparing for the best from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Broncos take on the Chiefs on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14. Mahomes is returning from a season-ending injury. Both teams have made changes, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton said on Tuesday that those changes don’t make much of a difference because they are already so familiar with Mahomes and the Chiefs.

“I think, and I’m going to probably say the same for [quarterback] Bo [Nix], you’ve seen enough things where you know he’s going to be 100 percent,” Payton said. “And we’re preparing for his best, and we know how talented he is, and I’m sure he’s attacked the rehab the way Bo has, completely different injuries, but that’s kind of our approach to it.”

Mahomes tore his ACL at the end of the Chiefs’ week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last season. Because the injury was so late in the season, there were questions about his ability to return in time for the season opener. But Mahomes has been practicing throughout training camp and is on track to start next Monday.

Whether he would have played week 1 or not, Denver would have had to face him at some point, since the Chiefs are division rivals and made the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons before missing the postseason in 2025. Having to play him early in the season means the scouting reports are limited, which means the Chiefs can throw in new wrinkles the defense has not seen before.

Payton said that none of it really matters, because Mahomes will still be the same player he has been for the past nine seasons.

“I think you have to be ready and prepare for what you know is his best, and that’s in the pocket, that’s the extended plays, that’s him running, all of those things. I don’t give a lot of thought to it because you can’t control it,” he said.

“I think in week 1, what I’d want to know is, how do you prepare for or adjust to some of the changes if you’re Kansas City for [Broncos offensive coordinator] Davis [Webb], or if you’re Denver for the [Chiefs’] new adds.”

Both teams have made some changes since last season. The Chiefs let go of running back Isiah Pacheco; wide receiver Marquise Brown; linebacker Leo Chenal; safety Bryan Cook; cornerback Jaylen Watson; and offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, among others, in free agency. They also traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams.

They signed Super Bowl LX MVP running back Kenneth Walker; defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga from the New England Patriots; safety Alohi Gilman from the Baltimore Ravens; and cornerback and former Chief L’Jarius Sneed from the Tennessee Titans. They also brought back former OC Eric Bieniemy.

The Broncos, on the other hand, returned all but four starters from the 2025 squad; wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, whom they traded for from the Miami Dolphins in the offseason, is the only starter who was not on the team last season. They did make a change at offensive coordinator, letting go of Joe Lombardi and promoting quarterbacks coach Davis Webb.

The continuity on the roster seems to make the scheme predictable, but Payton said that isn’t necessarily the case.

“The roster doesn’t create tendencies; the play calls, down-and-distances create tendencies,” he said. “As we look at each other, the roster, you have film on their talent. It’s more the latter, though … both teams know each other in the division, and yet that ability to see what’s changing. … I think you really focus on the team, and then you focus on those trends and those numbers.”

Payton said that there were several plays in their two games where a pass was just out of reach of the receivers but still worked schematically, and that they may try to run them again.