Mahomes Updates Timeline, Details Rehab at Chiefs Headquarters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tuesday of this week marked both 100 days until the NFL draft and exactly eight months until the first Sunday of the 2026 NFL season, Sept. 13.

Both are important dates to Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs’ unofficial college scout. He might not be able to break down as much college film, however, because he’s recovering from surgery to repair torn ACL and LCL injuries in his left knee.

Goal circled on calendar

Exactly a month after that Dec. 15 knee surgery, the Chiefs’ quarterback on Thursday afternoon left no doubts as to his goal for a return.

“The doctor gives you goals to get to,” Mahomes said, “and I just try to maximize those. And they hold me back because I always want to go a little bit further. So, it's been going great.

“I mean, obviously, I think the long term, I want to be ready for Week 1. The doctor said that I could be, but I can't predict what's going to happen throughout the process. But that's my goal. And so, I'll try to prepare myself to be ready to play in that Week 1 and have no restrictions. You want to be out there healthy and giving us the best chance to win.”

Getting to Week 1 without restrictions is a lofty goal, compared to most ACL comebacks. A few have done it in that time frame, including 2012 MVP Adrian Peterson and 2025 All-Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks, but most take longer than the nine months between Mahomes’ Dec. 15 surgery and the Sept. 13 opener.

Mahomes, however, is not most players. And while all ACL injuries are different, Mahomes revealed that his injury was different, too.

Silver lining

“I think what I got from my doctor,” Mahomes said, “that kind of cleared it up for me is, obviously, I had the ACL and the LCL, but everything else was clean. And so, as bad as it was, it was as clean as it could be. I found out there's a lot of little things that could happen around that knee that I've never even known.

“So, I was lucky. God blessed me enough to not do some of those little things that could prolong the injury. So now, it's just about rehabbing, getting the LCL and ACL right, giving them time, giving it time to rest, but at the same time building up that strength so that whenever I am ready to go, I'm ready to go.”

⏰ pic.twitter.com/nKz2xKI7pz
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 6, 2026

And when he’s ready to go, he doesn’t want to have to stop. Mahomes said there’s a conscious effort inside the Chiefs organization, and a collaboration with his surgeon, Dr. Dan Cooper in Dallas, to be sure that when the green light comes, it’s not too early.

“For sure,” Mahomes said, asked about balancing wanting to return without jeopardizing long-term health. “That's something that I have to think of, I think the coaches and the organization all have to think of at the same time. That's why they give me limits to where I can push it.

“Dr. Cooper, he described that to me. He said, ‘I'll give you the limits of where you can push it to, and it's up to you how far you want to push it to that limit.’ And knowing me, I’m gonna push it to the exact limit every single day. There's place you can't go yet, which I want to but I can't go yet.”

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