No place for Mahomes: Chiefs to start QB Blaine Gabbert

With no ground to gain in the AFC playoff picture by beating the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs are in preservation mode.

Blaine Gabbert will start in place of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and multiple regulars are headed for plenty of rest in a game head coach Andy Reid said would be used as a good audition for younger players.

Gabbert said he told the team, "Go out there and have fun."

Win or lose to the Chargers (5-11), Kansas City (10-6) owns the No. 3 seed in the AFC regardless of any outcome on the Sunday schedule. Los Angeles has lost four consecutive games and seven of its last eight.

Among Gabbert's goals for the game -- get tight end Travis Kelce over 1,000 receiving yards for the eighth consecutive season. He's at 984 through 16 games.

Kelce, who was inactive Week 1 with a knee injury, had a season-best 12 catches and 179 yards in Kansas City's win over the Chargers in Week 7.

"He's the best," Gabbert said. "He has a rare feel for the game of football. He sees the game like a quarterback."

Reid hasn't made the final call on Kelce's status, but Gabbert said the prolific production is a standard for not just Kelce, but the entire organization.

"If he wants to play, he'll play. If Coach Reid says have him rest, he's gonna rest," Gabbert said. "Ultimately that's on Coach Reid, but if we're out there we're going to do our damn best to get him 17 yards."

Mahomes was NFL MVP in 2022 with 5,250 passing yards and 41 touchdowns, leading Kansas City to another Super Bowl victory in February.

The Chiefs will fall short of the 14-3 record they posted in 2022 and Mahomes' totals aren't as glowing: 4,183 passing yards, 27 touchdowns. His only four-TD game this season was Oct. 22 in the first meeting with the Chargers.