Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid admits that he's "not happy" about the team's failure to make the postseason in 2025. The Chiefs have three games left on the schedule, yet none of them hold any level of importance after being ousted from the playoff picture by the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. But Reid insists his players are still going to play to win with max effort.
That might be tougher with the extreme changes at quarterback, knowing the Chiefs' franchise face is out for the year with a torn ACL. However, Reid says the backups in-house are ready to take over the role and that he's confident in them to get the job done.
Mahomes injured his knee in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs' loss to the Chargers at Arrowhead in Week 15. It was a devastating scene on an abysmal day, one that will be remembered as one of the franchise's darkest moments. But for Reid and company, the show must go on.
"I’ve got a ton of confidence in Gardner [Minshew]," said Reid. "I’ve watched him play with these other teams. He’s started in the league. Our guys have confidence in him. And then Chris Oladokun behind him will work up there. Chris has been with us for a while, too. I think there are two guys that our guys trust in there and will play hard for."
Andy Reid says the Chiefs still trust Gardner Minshew and Chris Oladokun to carry on after Patrick Mahomes’ season-ending ACL injury.
For Minshew, the next few games could prove very important if he was interested in maintaining a hold on the QB2 gig in Kansas City. The Chiefs will place a much greater emphasis on the quarterback room knowing there are very real questions facing Mahomes in terms of his recovery time. If Minshew performs well down the stretch, keeping him around as the bridge until Mahomes is ready once again makes the most sense for the 2026 roster.
Behind Minshew, Chris Oladokun is a very familiar face for Chiefs Kingdom, After being drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oladokun signed to the Chiefs' practice squad after being released before his rookie year. He's largely stayed in that role as a scout team quarterback for the Chiefs for each of the last four seasons.
Now, however, it sounds as if the Chiefs will elevate Oladokun to the active roster and roll with those two familiar faces in the season's final games. That slate begins with a visit to Nashville to play the Tennessee Titans in Week 16 as well as a Christmas Day game against the Denver Broncos and the season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders.
It makes sense that the Chiefs would stick with what they know, since there's nothing meaningful gained by a win or a loss at this point. The Chiefs could have been inclined to make a move at quarterback if they were still in the chase for a playoff spot, perhaps another vet to put behind Minshew, but a 6-8 record means that the two options already on the roster are just fine.