KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While soon-to-be-superstar Patrick Mahomes was spending 2017 as an apprentice behind Alex Smith, another quarterback phenom was dazzling the NFL with his exceptional arm and uncanny ability to improvise and extend plays.

Stirring the hopes of Philadelphia fans that the franchise might finally be en route to winning its first Super Bowl, Carson Wentz that season threw for 33 touchdowns and 3,296 yards with just seven interceptions. He stoked the Eagles to an 11-2 start on his way to finishing third in NFL MVP voting.

But his season came to an abrupt end after he suffered a torn ACL in that 13th game.

Well, semi-abrupt anyway: In a 43-35 win over the Rams, he threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day despite being unable to run, three plays after he suffered what became a season-ending injury.

It wasn’t just Eagles fans left distressed in the wake of the injury.

“The whole team had an uneasy feeling in the locker room,” former Eagles center Jason Kelce, Travis’ big brother, said during his retirement speech in March 2024. “All of us questioning what this would mean.”

What it meant, as it happened, was that backup Nick Foles seized the moment and soared to the game of his life to lead the Eagles past the Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII.

“From Wentz We Came,” a pre-Super Bowl promotional campaign in Philly went. “In Foles We Trust.”

The moral to the story here and now?

Few know better than Wentz, alas, in the hardest of ways, how vital the role of a backup quarterback might be.

And while there are any number of reasons why the 32-year-old has embraced the role with the Chiefs this season and been ever-on-alert behind Mahomes, that episode still informs his mindset and keeps him cognizant of the urgency of being ready.

“For sure,” he said Wednesday.

As he began preparing to start Sunday at Denver — while Mahomes is rested ahead of the postseason with the Chiefs having secured the No. 1 seed — Wentz thought about how many big hits Mahomes has taken this season.

Shaking his head, he said, “There’s been a couple this year that I’m like, ‘Is this it?’”

Most obviously was at Cleveland on Dec. 15, when Mahomes left late in the game with an ankle injury. Wentz managed the final two drives — completing the only two passes he threw — of the 21-7 victory that initially left Mahomes appearing at risk of missing a game or games.

At least it seemed something to consider.

Instead, the ever-resilient Mahomes — who has missed just two NFL starts because of injuries — returned against Houston ... and then put together two of his best games of the season.

Just the same, the point remains: Mahomes is a target who routinely absorbs great punishment.

And in the event another injury sidelines Mahomes for a play or a series or, gulp, a game or more, Wentz understands better than most that needn’t be dire if he can meet the moment.

Which brings us to this game against the Broncos, 9-7 and fighting for a playoff spot.

While it doesn’t materially affect the Chiefs (15-1), it’s not inconsequential on a few levels.

With a victory, Andy Reid would become just the fourth coach in NFL history to win 300 games — and the Chiefs would be only the second team in league history to win 16 games in a regular season (along with the 2007 Patriots, who went 16-0).

More relevant to their quest to become the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls, the Chiefs will have a chance to rest key starters but also keep tinkering with the left tackle issue that remains worrisome.

Then there’s the matter of needing not just to sit Mahomes but also play Wentz, who will be making the 94th start of a career in which he’s thrown for 153 touchdowns and 22,312 yards with 67 interceptions.

In a sense, the opportunity will be an audition for Wentz’s future in the NFL after a strange journey over the last few years.

With the rise of Jalen Hurts, the Eagles traded him to the Colts after the 2020 season. He threw for 27 TDs (with seven interceptions) and 3,563 yards in 2021 but then was traded to Washington — which cut him amid diminishing returns with two years remaining on a big contract after the 2022 season.

He wasn’t signed again until he joined the Rams 10 weeks into last season.

“The NFL has a way of humbling everybody,” he told reporters after joining the Rams, later adding, “I’m no dummy. I’ve seen it all. I know how this league works, and I know kind of how last year ended. And I didn’t play good enough.”

Even so, when he was available again after last season, the Chiefs saw him as a seasoned and accomplished fit behind Mahomes.

No matter how much they’d prefer never to have to break the glass, best to have an optimal option.

“Selfishly, I’d like to keep him, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” Reid said Monday. “He should be starting in the league somewhere. That’s what he should be doing by his ability and the way he goes about his business.”

A way that struck Mahomes immediately.

As he got acquainted with Wentz and his game during offseason workouts, he took note of Wentz’s intelligence and arm that “can make every throw.”

Stuff Mahomes can relate to.

“You see why,” Mahomes said in July, “he was on pace to win the MVP.”

And you can see why the memory of that season, and all that’s happened since, make Wentz appreciate this moment as something quite more than just a token start before the games that matter most.

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