Patrick Mahomes: Eric Bieniemy's return has been exciting to me

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After the Chiefs finished last season 6-11 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2014, the club made several coaching changes, headlined by the return of Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy previously served in the same role from 2018-2022, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the club. Now that Bieniemy is back, quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters on Thursday that the coach has had a tangible effect in the building. “There’s a standard that you have to practice with, and you have to play with,” Mahomes said of Bieniemy’s return. “He’s going to hold you to that standard, no matter who you are. From the first guy to the 90th guy right now, he’s going to hold you to that standard. I think that’s something — it’s hard to replicate, I think that’s the best way to say it. “He has brought in a lot of concepts and a lot of things that I’ve really liked that we’ve added in now. It’s good to have him back in the building and having that energy back. A lot of these guys haven’t had an EB. They understand it and honestly, I think it’s been cool. They’re really receptive of it. Even though it’s hard, there’s hard days. They know why we’re doing it. You can see the guys, and they want to be great, and they want to be better than we were last year.” Even as Bieniemy is crafting a standard, Mahomes acknowledged some of his younger teammates haven’t seen the coach completely go off quite yet. “I’m not going to say he’s taking it easy — he’s pushing the guys, but he holds them to a standard,” Mahomes said. “They haven’t had those days — it’s usually training camp when guys get tired, and they lose that will to finish and do all the exact right things, and that’s when EB’s going to hold you to that standard. We haven’t gotten there yet, but as long as you keep having good practices, we can prolong that as long as possible. “I love it, man, I truly do. I think you can feel it in the meeting rooms. The way he carries himself, with the confidence that he carries himself with, it really focuses you in on what you’re learning and the little details of things. It’s been exciting to me, that first meeting had me wanting to run through a brick wall, it had me ready to go.”