The Kansas City Chiefs’ first test of preseason is just days away. Andy Reid‘s men will take on the Los Angeles Rams in their first preseason outing of the 2026 NFL campaign on August 15. Reid has urged his players to forget the disappointment of 2025GettyThere, they will bid to shake off the disappointment of the 2025 season in which they won just six games – their worst record since 2012 – and missed the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. But KC find themselves in uncharted waters with two of their preseason opponents being teams they will come up against during the regular season in the Rams and the reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks.“The Chiefs have the rare situation where they will play two teams in the preseason they will also play in the regular season (Rams & Seahawks),” KCTV5 reporter Mark Poulose pointed out.When asked by a reporter if this situation presented any unique challenges, Reid was quick to shut that down.NFL Weekly Newsletter - SIGN UP!talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.SIGN UP HERE!This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.“They’re not going to play anybody. And so–and we’ll be very vanilla, too,” Reid told reporters on Monday.“That’s kind of how it is. It’s an opportunity to see your young guys play, and Seattle will probably do the same thing. “I don’t know how many guys they’ll play, so. But it’s all good work. I don’t worry about all the other stuff. “You’re not really game planning for these things. You’re just taking base plays and going and running them.”The Chiefs and the Rams will meet each other for real in Week 13 of the regular season at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California – where Super Bowl LXI will be played on Valentines Day next year.By that point, the playoff picture will come more into play with both teams hoping that they will be very much in contention. Reid doesn’t feel that there are any unique advantages to playing the Rams in preseasonGettyMahomes certainly won’t feature in preseason but he is still on track to being ready by Week 1GettyWhen will Patrick Mahomes be ready?Mahomes will certainly not be featuring in preseason, meaning that either Justin Fields, rookie Garrett Nussmeier, or Chris Oladokun will be under center and taking the reps against the Rams. But the 30-year-old, who is considered as one of the greatest passers of all time, is ramping up his efforts to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 campaign against the Denver Broncos, just nine months after sustaining a torn LCL and ACL injury.It appears that all systems are go for the two-time league MVP, who has insisted that he will be ready to take to the field. In the event that he doesn’t clear protocol, though, then Reid will likely name former first-round pick Fields as the starter. Should that occur, then Fields would become the first player in NFL history to open the season as the starting quarterback for four different teams in four consecutive years. Since departing from the Chicago Bears in 2023, the 27-year-old has become somewhat of a league journeyman, with briefs spells at the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets, the latter team benching him after a 2-7 start to the 2025 season before trading him. Fields is relishing the opportunity to work under coach Andy ReidGettyFields is relishing the chance to work under Reid, though. “I wanted to come here because of the culture, because of Pat and to learn from him and coach Reid,” Fields said back in April after he was traded to Kansas City. “Just the winning, to be honest.“We, of course knew of each other, but we really didn’t communicate before coming here. I’m excited to learn from [Mahomes]. “I’m already kind of picking his brain a little bit and just observing how he goes about things in the meeting rooms, field and stuff like that. I’m excited, of course, to work with coach Reid and [offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy] and all the guys on offense.”