PHOENIX — Patrick Mahomes’ phone rang one day in early March and it was Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid calling to tell him they were considering trading star wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

The Chiefs’ quarterback reacted like most football fans would days later when Hill was traded from Kansas City to the Dolphins.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Why?’ ” Mahomes said this week.

The Chiefs’ decision-makers explained to Mahomes that despite Hill’s 111 catches in 2021 and no other No. 1 wide receiver option on the roster, the Chiefs could not meet his demands for a contract extension and needed to move him.

“Obviously, I tried to do whatever I could to make sure we kept Tyreek,” Mahomes said. “He is not only a special player but is a good friend of mine. We tried to make it happen the best we could and it obviously didn’t but we had a plan for what we were going to do after that and what steps we were going to take.”

Amazingly, the Chiefs’ offense did not miss a step without Hill, who had an All-Pro season with the Dolphins. Mahomes threw for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns and the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. They had the No. 1 offense in yards and points per game.

The credit for the Chiefs being able to survive the loss of such a significant weapon gets spread around. First, Veach made smart signings in free agency by adding JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Then, Reid showed he remains one of the smartest minds in football with how he integrated them into the offense. Finally, there is Mahomes. It helps when you have the greatest player on the planet on your team.

“Listen, Pat Mahomes is a pretty good quarterback,” Reid said. “We didn’t lose Pat Mahomes and that was a good thing. He makes those guys look good in a lot of ways and they help make him look good, too.”

Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce went to work quickly to get the new guys up to speed. Mahomes organized workouts in Texas in April to get the skill players on the same page before the Chiefs began OTAs.

“It was Pat’s idea to get everybody going before we got into OTAs,” Kelce said. “I think all that did is get the ball rolling and get everybody in the same mind frame.

“They saw the practice habits there and that was just an easy way to transition right into OTAs and we got the coaches involved and the entire team together.”

Reid said that he and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy did not rip up the playbook with Hill gone. They incorporated their new pieces into the offense. They may have no longer had the Cheetah, but they still had some horses.

“We didn’t have to go back and do a whole lot of changing,” Reid said. “That was a plus. Scantling can run and [Justin] Watson can run. Now, are they as fast as Tyreek? No, there’s nobody as fast as Tyreek. But the plays still fit and work even though these guys are just a tick slower. … The plays that required that we still called and had success with.”

Running back Jerick McKinnon was a free agent when the Hill trade went down. He said he was surprised, but he knew Reid would make it work.

“I didn’t know what to say. I’m not going to lie to you,” McKinnon said. “But you have to understand with every move like that, there’s always a plan behind it. It’s coach Reid. He’s going to make it happen. Whoever is on the roster, however it shakes out, he’s going to make plays and he’s going to make sure this team is successful one way or another.”

After some initial growing pains, Mahomes clicked with his receivers. Smith-Schuster had 78 catches for 933 yards and three touchdowns. Valdes-Scantling had 42 catches for 687 yards and two touchdowns. And of course, Kelce returned and the tight end had another monster season with 110 catches for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work,” Mahomes said. “I think you’ve seen that over the season we’ve gotten better and better. If you look at the beginning of the season, me and Marquez couldn’t find some of those deep shots that we hit in the playoff game this last game. That’s just us building that relationship of where he’s going to be at at what time. “

On Sunday, Mahomes and the new-look Chiefs offense will face a stingy Eagles defense. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl three years ago, Hill and Mahomes combined to make the play of the game when they connected on a 44-yard pass on third-and-15 in the fourth quarter that set up a Chiefs touchdown in their comeback win over the 49ers.

This time, Mahomes will be looking for a different hero, but it’s hard to bet against him and the Chiefs figuring it out.

“You never want to lose a generational player,” Mahomes said. “I think everybody has seen that in Miami. He is a generational player. But we did a great job of recouping and getting a lot of great receivers in here and great guys throughout our whole offense. We had a plan. That’s the biggest thing. When you lose a great like that, you have to make sure you have a plan to replace his production.”

The plan worked.