“Patrick beat me into the building” ALEX SMITH on MAHOMES

“I think sitting ensured that when he finally did take the field, he had the best chance of success,” Alex Smith said of Patrick Mahomes on ESPN’s NFL Countdown.

During the October 4 discussion, host Mike Greenberg asked Smith about Kirk Cousins playing well for the Raiders while rookie Fernando Mendoza waits for his opportunity. Smith had been in a similar position when Kansas City drafted Mahomes in 2017.

Greenberg introduced the segment with Cousins’ nine touchdown passes through Las Vegas’ first three games, including three in each. Asked how it felt to keep playing with a successor waiting, Smith described the veteran’s perspective.

“But I can so relate to the feeling of I still got the keys to the car, Greeny, right? And I’m going to drive this thing as fast as I can for as long as I can and not give him up,” Smith said. “He’s playing so fast. He’s so determined to make the most of this opportunity.”

Cousins’ own comments were played before the panel discussion.

“Your level of play is week to week,” Cousins said. “And so I’ve never really felt like, you know, anything was going to be handed to me or given to me. You got to go out and play at that level.”

What Mahomes learned from Smith

Mahomes spent most of his 2017 rookie season behind Smith, making his first regular-season start in the finale at Denver.

In an interview excerpt played on the program, Mahomes recalled learning how to arrange his film study during the week and adjust his feet to get out from under center faster.

“And I think that’s what made me have so much success early in my career,” Mahomes said.

Greenberg then asked Smith what he remembered about Mahomes’ first year.

“And I would come in early morning getting my work done and every morning Patrick beat me into the building, right?” Smith said. “He’d be in his notebook and he’d be writing every play down, right?”

“And here we are getting inundated with a brand new game plan every single day. You know, base plan going in on Wednesday, then third downs, then red zone, short yardage, goal line, two-minute. And that all changes every week. And so he would come in and again he’d be in there writing the plays down word for word practicing them because it was so different.”

Smith was in his 13th NFL season and had established his own weekly preparation routine.

“And again, the value wasn’t in me whispering any secrets right in the quarterback room. It was really that he got a front row view to watch me work for an entire year,” he said.

Mendoza’s opportunity behind Cousins

Returning to Mendoza, Smith distinguished the rookie’s physical tools from the experience Cousins brings to reading the game.

“But Kirk has so much experience, so much value in playing fast in between his ears,” Smith said.

“There’s a lot to teach there. And so if all of a sudden Fernando Mendoza can learn to play fast like that, given his physical attributes, right, all of a sudden your ceiling gets even higher and higher.”