Three-quarters speed was good enough Friday for the three-time Pro Bowl running back to break loose for 42 yards on a mere four carries in the Chiefs’ otherwise dismal 27-16 loss at Minnesota in the preseason opener.

Holmes, who missed the final half of the 2004 campaign with a slow-to-heal sprain of the medial collateral ligament, looked close to season-opening form on his first carry. He hit the right side of his line — behind replacement right guard John Welbourn and new right tackle Kevin Sampson — and was stacked up immediately.

But in a classic Holmes move, he bounced out of the pile, reversed his field, shifted into high and turned the left corner for 21 yards.

On Kansas City’s next possession, Holmes ran for 15 behind a more familar blocker, road grader Willie Roaf. He ran once more for four before retiring for the evening with a 10-yard average per rush.

Any concerns that Holmes might still be feeling the effects of the knee injury — the third such knee problem of his college and nine-year pro career — dissipated quickly.

“But I still have a ways to go,” Holmes said. “If I was to rate myself, I’m somewhere between 75 and 80 percent.

“When it comes time to play (in the regular season), I’ll be ready.”