Mahomes surprised, but respects Duvernay-Tardif's decision to opt out of season

Patrick Mahomes wasn't expecting to play without his starting right guard in 2020, but the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is supportive of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif's decision to opt out of the season.

A medical school graduate, Duvernay-Tardif has spent the COVID-19 pandemic working at a long-term care facility in Canada, his home country. He elected to continue his service rather than return to the defending Super Bowl champions for the upcoming campaign.

"I think it surprises anyone, but at the same time you respect his decision," Mahomes said Saturday, according to Grant Gordon of NFL.com. "He's a guy that's been on those front lines working with the people that are suffering from COVID day to day and putting in all that time and all that work. He understands it and his decision was he wanted to stay there; he wanted to keep helping in that capacity and I know it was difficult for him, but you respect the decision for him to put his thoughts aside and do what he thought was best to help out his community and the world as he sees it."

Duvernay-Tardif has been a full-time starter in Kansas City for the last five years, though the Chiefs played most of their games without him in 2018 because of an injury.

By opting out of the season, the 29-year-old forfeited his $2.75-million base salary for 2020 and will instead receive a $150,000 package. Duvernay-Tardif became the first NFL player to opt out of the approaching season.

"From everybody that I've spoken to, everybody respects his decision 100%," Mahomes said. "Larry's a guy who loves football, but he also loves his other passions and being a doctor is extremely important, especially at this time that we're at in this world. And so for him, I know it's difficult for him, he wants to be out here with us, he wants to be a part of us, he wants to be a part of the guys. But at the same time, he wants to make sure he's doing something to make the world a better place and I believe he is doing that. He's seen it first-hand and he understands he has to be in that place now and we're gonna respect it and give him as much support as we can."

It's unclear who will take Duvernay-Tardif's spot in the lineup. The Chiefs have had great stability up front for the last several years under head coach Andy Reid.