Overview
- Thrust into the lineup after Patrick Mahomes’ knee injury and Gardner Minshew’s tibial plateau fracture, the 28-year-old made his debut start on Christmas against Denver at Arrowhead.
- In the sequence drawing the most attention, he fumbled while scrambling, scooped the ball in stride, and completed a first-down pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
- He later conjured another off-script escape to find Smith-Schuster for a chain-moving completion.
- His stat line was modest at 13-of-22 for 66 yards and one touchdown, which went to rookie Brashard Smith.
- NFL and media accounts shared the highlights and compared the improvisation to Mahomes, boosting the visibility of a performance defined by moments over yardage.