New on SI: Patrick Mahomes Says He Didn't Understand How To Read Defenses Until Last Season

Patrick Mahomes said he couldn't truly read defenses until "halfway of last year."

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said on a preview of HBO's The Shop that he couldn't truly read defenses until "halfway through last year."

"I understood coverages but how to be able to pick up little tendencies defenses do, stuff that Brady and them have done, they know it, and they just do it," Mahomes said on the show. "I was just playing."

Mahomes won NFL MVP in 2018 and became just the first quarterback ever after Peyton Manning to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. And that was before he said he could wholeheartedly comprehend defensive schemes. 

"This year I could actually recognize more and more stuff," Mahomes said. "The more experience and the more I learn then I'll be able to go out there and call plays and do all that different stuff because I've seen it. I still think there's a long way for me to go there."

In 2019, Mahomes threw for 4,031 yards and 26 touchdowns and won the Super Bowl with three-straight playoff double-digit comebacks. 

"I think mentally I can get a lot better," Mahomes said. "Physically, I've done a lot of stuff, I always work on my fundamentals. But mentally, I can still take my game to a whole other level."

The new episode of The Shop will air on Saturday, March 7 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.