Jaguars vs. Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes, Other Kansas City Starters Expected to Play

The Jaguars will see the Chiefs' starters for a quarter of Saturday's preseason opener.

Jaguars Training Camp: Ryan Nielsen on Preseason Snaps /

For the first time since Week 17 last year, there will be an official NFL game played at EverBank Stadium this Saturday when the Jacksonville Jaguars face off against the Kansas City Chiefs.

And during the battle, the Chiefs will deploy their starters just like the Jaguars will, according to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid said that his starters would play a quarter Saturday night against the Jags #KCvsJAX #jaguars

— J.P. Shadrick (@jpshadrick) August 7, 2024

This means the Jaguars starters will get a chance to face off against the Chiefs starters, with Jacksonville's core players expected to play at least a few series on Saturday night. It won't be the same stakes as the previous few times the Jaguars have played Mahomes and the Chiefs, but it will be a good measuring stick for the first week of the preseason.

“You guys know, I usually play the starters, or the penciled-in starters, a series or two in this first game, and then get them out. Then really, from there, we want to look at everybody," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday.

"So, you have three quarters, maybe three and a half, to really get a good look at a lot of the young players and see what you have there. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Maybe guys play more special teams than they do offense-defense. But at the same time, you still want to give everybody a chance to get in this game and play.”

It isn't surprising to see Pederson and Reid mostly align the same way on their preseason philosophies considering Reid is Pederson's mentor and a big reason why he is a head coach today.

"The success that Andy's had in his career—go back to Philly, Kansas City. Obviously, he understands the process. Meaning, you're not a finished product in September. He builds through the entire season and becomes a finished product at the end of the year," Pederson said.

"He understands that and understands his team. One of the things I've learned from him working with him and playing for him is his attention to detail with every little thing. It matters. This is the same thing that I stress with our guys here, that we can't let just a little, minute, six-inch step here become magnified in a game. So, he does the little things better than most, and probably better than anyone in the league. Obviously, he's done a great job with developing the quarterback position, and he's had great quarterbacks. It's just the way he—I think he really kind of keeps his thumb in sort of the pulse of the team.”

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