In a challenging offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been keen to avoid distraction and focus on preparing for the season ahead. After all, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are in position to do something that has never before been achieved in the NFL: a Super Bowl “three-peat.”

However, between Rashee Rice’s legal woes and the controversy around Harrison Butker’s commencement address at Benedictine College, this has been anything but a quiet offseason in Kansas City. More recently, Mahomes‘ return to Chiefs HQ for organized team activities opened the two-time MVP to fresh criticism over his”dad bod,” and a former NFL star has been compelled to speak up in Mahomes’ defense.

Dez comes to Pat’s defense

Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant took to X (formerly Twitter) this week in response to the consternation over Mahomes’ body type. He insisted that Mahomes is “perfectly fine,” and reminded fans that the quarterback’s trainer — the well-regarded Bobby Stroupe — will have him ready for September, and the start of the 2024 NFL season.

Mahomes has previously embraced his dad bod, proudly showing it off after the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens in last season’s AFC Championship Game and poking fun at media narratives about it. But Mahomes has more recently expressed annoyance with the continued hand-wringing over how he looks, especially as he is fresh off guiding Kansas City to its third Super Bowl win in five years.

Fortunately for Mahomes — a huge fan of Dallas-area sports — the three-time Pro Bowler Bryant has chimed in and expressed his confidence in the quarterback ahead of his eighth NFL season. The Chiefs will enter 2024 as the favorites to win a third consecutive Super Bowl and their fourth since Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018, a dynastic run that shows few signs of slowing.