KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Almost three full seasons of posting big numbers as a starting quarterback have given the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes a better appreciation for the players who have done it over a much longer period.

Drew Brees, the NFL's all-time leader in passing yardage, is one such player. Brees, who missed the past four games because of injuries, may not play Sunday when the New Orleans Saints meet the Chiefs (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS). It could be their only chance to play against each other.

"Hopefully we get to go up against him or I get to go up against him," Mahomes said. "If not, hopefully we'll get to face him some other time. You want to play against those great quarterbacks you watched growing up that were guys you looked up to in the way they played the game. You want to go up against those great quarterbacks who have done it for a long time.

"Just being consistently at the top of the game year in and year out, it is truly special. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time."

Brees has 79,612 career passing yards, putting him more than 1,500 ahead of his closest pursuer, Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brees is second in career touchdown passes with 565, six behind Brady.

If Brees doesn't play Sunday, he and Mahomes could get their first matchup in Super Bowl LV in February. Otherwise, with Brees turning 42 in January and the Saints and Chiefs not scheduled to meet again in the regular season again until 2024, it may never happen.

Mahomes has relished his four matchups against Brady, with each quarterback winning twice. He was 1-2 against Brady with the New England Patriots, including an overtime loss in the 2018 AFC Championship Game. Mahomes and the Chiefs beat Brady and the Bucs this season in Week 12.

"He's a terrific player, obviously being league MVP a few years ago," Brady said of Mahomes. "Fifty touchdowns is pretty hard to do. There's not many guys that have done that.

"And then to continue that last year with the Super Bowl championship and then playing at an extremely high level this year, he's just getting more and more comfortable. And so much about playing quarterback is having experience, learning from year-to-year, improving your routine. He's just doing a tremendous job. They've got their offense rolling."

From this vantage point, Mahomes seems certain to eventually catch Brady and Brees and hold the all-time touchdown pass and yardage records. Mahomes is averaging 2.48 touchdown passes and 309.5 yards during his 44 career games. Brees is at 1.99 and 280.3, Brady 1.92 and 262 for their respective careers.

"There's a lot that goes into it, the overall health and durability and being at the right place," Saints coach Sean Payton said of Mahomes eventually becoming the NFL's all-time leading passer. "There's so much that goes into it, and again, so much of it is again good fortune relative to staying healthy. There are so many boxes you hope to get to check when you find the right guy."

Mahomes checks all of those boxes. Mahomes returned to training camp over the summer as focused and determined as ever just months after leading the Chiefs to a victory in Super Bowl LIV.

This led Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to refer to Mahomes as a "competitive p---k."

"He wants to improve at everything he possibly can improve upon," Bieniemy said. "He wants to be the best at whatever he can do.

"He just wants to work. That's what you love about being around him every single day."

If Brees never played another game, Mahomes at his per-game career rate would need 184 games (11.5 seasons, assuming 16-game seasons) to catch Brees in touchdowns and 213 games (13.3 seasons), to catch him in yards.

That would put Mahomes, 25, well ahead of where Brees and Brady are now in terms of age. He would be 37 in 11.5 seasons. Brees is 41, Brady 43.

By the time he's 41, in 16 more seasons, Mahomes would at his current rate have 744 touchdown passes and 92,852 yards.

To Payton's point, injuries are the great unknown. Since becoming the starter in the final game in 2017, Mahomes has missed two games, both last season after he dislocated his kneecap.

Brady missed 19 games over the years since becoming a full-time starter in 2001, Brees 18 since he became a starter in 2002.

This also doesn't factor in talent the Chiefs might have around Mahomes later in his career. The Chiefs have a top pass-catching combination in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, who is on pace to break the NFL's single-season record for yardage by a tight end.

What happens after the careers of Hill and Kelce are finished could determine where Mahomes is headed and how quickly he gets there. But general manager Brett Veach seems determined to keep Mahomes surrounded by top skill players.

The Chiefs in 2018 went to great expense to sign wide receiver Sammy Watkins. In the past two years, their top draft picks were wide receiver Mecole Hardman and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Mahomes said shortly after signing his 10-year contract extension last summer he was confident in the Chiefs' ability to keep a well-stocked roster around him.

"I have full trust that things will get handled the right way as we go throughout this career and we will be in a position to win a lot of football games and hopefully win a lot more championships as my career goes on," he said. "I think having Brett Veach, who is a young general manager who has done a great job of drafting and putting a lot of great players around me, was definitely another huge boost of confidence to sign this 10-year extension."