Patrick Mahomes Laments Chiefs' Grueling December Schedule: ‘It Is Not A Good Feeling’

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The Kansas City Chiefs have a rough stretch ahead. And Patrick Mahomes, for one, is not looking forward to it.

The defending Super Bowl champions head to Cleveland to take on the Browns this Sunday. They'll follow that with a Saturday home game against the Houston Texans before quickly turning around for a Christmas Day match-up in Pittsburgh. If you didn't do the math, that's three games in just 11 days.

"All you can do is focus on the game and the practice that you had that day," Mahomes said. "I try to prepare my body all year long for this stretch by tailoring my workouts, tailoring how you practice and you prepare. The coaches do a great job of taking care of us on the practice field. We practice hard as anybody, but they know how to kind of dial it back when we need it."

The Chiefs won't have much time for rest and recovery over the next couple of weeks.

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Mahomes continued: "It is not a good feeling. I'm excited to play on Christmas to hopefully get back from what we did last year [when the Chiefs lost to the Las Vegas Raiders], but you never want to play this many games in this short of time. It's just not great for your body. But at the end of the day, it's your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it."

While Mahomes & Co. might feel like they got an unlucky draw, they aren't the only team being put through the ringer in December. The Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will also play three games in 11 days.

"That's a unique situation," Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said. "You just have to manage it. It is what it is. You make the best of it. One thing is, you've got to get guys ready for a game, give them the chance to do whatever you present to them. So, I help them out now. We've got a normal week right here. So, we've got to take care of business."

The Chiefs and Steelers will kick off the NFL's Christmas Day slate at 1 p.m. ET, streaming exclusively on Netflix. The Ravens and Texans will follow at 4:30 p.m. ET.