Andy Reid Provides Early Patrick Mahomes Injury Update
The Kansas City Chiefs' Divisional Round win over the Jacksonville Jaguars came with a scare, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with a right ankle injury that caused him to miss part of the game. It was described as a possible high-ankle sprain that evening, which an MRI confirmed on Sunday. On Monday, head coach Andy Reid added even more certainty to that diagnosis.
Speaking via Zoom on Monday afternoon, Reid opened up his beginning-of-the-week address by confirming that Mahomes has a right high-ankle sprain. Additionally, he praised his star signal-caller for the hard work he's put in thus far in rehab. According to Reid, Mahomes's mindset is that he's going to play in Sunday's AFC Championship Game matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. That falls in line with the sentiment Mahomes echoed following the Divisional Round win.
Mahomes, who spoke after Saturday's game, said that he planned on jumping right into treatment for the ankle later that day. Near the end of the first quarter, he suffered a hit from Jaguars defensive lineman Arden Key that saw his leg bend at an unnatural angle. Despite that, he was able to finish that drive and then later return to action for the second half after undergoing an X-ray (that came back negative) and doing some sideline tests to prove to the Chiefs' staff that he could protect himself.
In the win, Mahomes completed 22 of 30 pass attempts for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Veteran Chad Henne briefly relieved him for the majority of the second quarter, tossing a touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce to complete a pivotal and lengthy 98-yard drive. It was a team win for Kansas City, and one that paved the way for a rematch of last year's conference title game. Mahomes understands the significance of postseason outings, and he briefly touched on that following the Divisional Round:
“I mean I’m not coming out of a playoff game unless they take me out. I’m just going to play. I love this sport too much; I love this game. I love playing with my teammates and being able to go out there and enjoy it together. We prepare all year to be in the playoffs and to play in these games and I’m glad that I was able to get back in the game and it’s something that I just love competing in this sport and pain is pain and you’re going to have to deal with it either way.”
It remains to be seen what Mahomes's workload will look like in practice this week — or even if he's participating early on — but Reid's Monday update is positive nonetheless. Reid says Mahomes has done "amazing things" with not much time, adding that he believes Mahomes has had worse high-ankle sprains than this one. The next few days will provide more clarity but early in the week, it appears that things are looking a lot more promising than they were for most of Saturday afternoon.
