Patrick Mahomes’s Little Helper

“He’s got the high-pitched voice,” Reid said. “Everybody thinks the world of him and loves him.”

McKinnon’s Kevin Hart-like high-octave patter earned him a turn on a Reddit thread about the least intimidating voices in the N.F.L. The fellow running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s impersonation of McKinnon is the gold standard inside the Kansas City practice facility.

Reid, too, has added a McKinnon impersonation alongside his take on Mahomes’s gravelly foghorn tone, but has yet to debut it publicly.

McKinnon has taken the long path to a breakout season. A third-round selection of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, he spent four years as a backup before signing a four-year, $30 million deal with San Francisco in 2018. That year, McKinnon tore an anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that kept him from playing until 2020. He did not have many options left when Kansas City offered him a one-year deal before last season.

The injury delay made him evangelical about taking care of his body. Besides the usual stretches and rolls before and after practices, McKinnon alternates acupuncture and dry needling along with cupping throughout the week. He said the former star running back Adrian Peterson, with whom he played in Minnesota, impressed upon him how important it was to do everything possible to remain in peak shape.

Reid says McKinnon’s background as a quarterback at Georgia Southern University allows him to see the whole field and use his intuition to feel for where he needs to be as a play unfolds.

“He kind of knows how the game works as a whole,” Reid said. “I think that helps him in the run game — knowing how gaps are set up, knowing how secondaries fill for the run.”

Reid added: “He can catch the ball on top of all of that.”

McKinnon was Kansas City’s third-leading pass catcher in the regular season with 54 receptions, but he is perhaps most beloved by Kansas City’s offensive line for his “little man” rage that shows itself in his mighty blocking, especially when opponents blitz Mahomes.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/sports/football/kansas-city-afc-championship-game-jerick-mckinnon.html