KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid each had their regrets about how the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback fared in his debut as the full-time starter.

For Mahomes, it was the disjointed nature of the preseason opener. He played two possessions and threw seven passes before he gave way to backup Chad Henne. Mahomes was long gone by the time the Chiefs had concluded their 17-10 loss to the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium.

"It's a little bit of a tease," said Mahomes, who was already looking forward to getting more playing time in next week's exhibition against the Falcons in Atlanta. "You get out there and you get going and you kind of start getting into the rhythm of things, and [then] it's the next guy's [turn]. ... As we get going a little bit more, I'll be able to play a little bit more and hopefully score a few touchdowns."

Reid, meanwhile, lamented a big play that got away from Mahomes. He said Mahomes had a touchdown available to either of two receivers on one play on his second series but didn't have time to get the ball to them and instead took a sack.

"We had two tight ends on that side, and one of them is supposed to chip and release," Reid said. "We didn't get the chip, and so the [defender] came off Demetrius [Harris] fast. We goofed. We goofed up the protection. He had Sammy [Watkins] down the middle of the field on a post route, and he had [Travis Kelce] wide open on a corner route. He saw it. He was trying to get to it, but he couldn't get [the ball] there. That's a touchdown. He would have put it out there and let those guys get it. But you've got to protect. It doesn't matter if you're on your back there.

"If we protect it, it's a touchdown."

Reid can live with the breakdown because it's the preseason, but he was still frustrated about losing what would have been a 69-yard touchdown.

The Chiefs traded Alex Smith at the end of last season to clear room in their lineup for the strong-armed Mahomes. They already had a strong group of skill players that included Kelce and Tyreek Hill and added to it by signing Watkins as a free agent.

But the big offensive production will have to wait for another time. Mahomes was 5-of-7 for 33 yards, with two of his completions going to Kelce and two to Hill. The Chiefs punted on each of Mahomes' two possessions.

His longest completion of the game was to Kelce for 14 yards on his first play. The Chiefs will be looking for more big plays once the regular season begins.

"In the preseason, you don't want to show all your good plays and all your good stuff," Mahomes said. "We had some [long passes] in. They played coverages, and they played back, so I took what they gave me. But at the same time, being the quarterback that I am, I like to take shots down the field. I just didn't get the opportunity to do it.

"Probably scoring a touchdown or a field goal would have made it a lot better. ... We got some completions. We moved the ball a little bit. At the same time, you want to kind of move it a little bit more."