The Kansas City Chiefs are awaiting further updates on star quarterback Patrick Mahomes following his ankle injury during Week 15’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
Mahomes exited the game in the fourth quarter after a failed fourth-down attempt.
Head coach Andy Reid confirmed after the game that Mahomes had suffered an ankle injury, emphasizing that no bones were broken and that Mahomes could have returned under different circumstances.
Reports from multiple NFL insiders suggest Mahomes sustained a high ankle sprain and is currently considered “week to week.”
Mahomes himself acknowledged the injury after the game, maintaining a wait-and-see approach regarding its severity and impact.
On Monday morning, NFL insider Ian Rapoport provided an update on NFL Network.
“Patrick Mahomes is believed to have suffered a high ankle sprain in yesterday’s game,” Rapoport said.
“Obviously, he exits the game, and Carson Wentz finished out a relatively easy win for the Kansas City Chiefs.
You watch that hit—high and low—the pain he was in, and him limping off. None of it looked good. That said, based on the initial diagnosis, this does not appear to be a dire situation.
The fear is a high ankle sprain, but X-rays were negative, and he is considered week to week.
“This is the same Mahomes who dealt with a somewhat similar high ankle sprain during the playoffs a couple of years back and still played. His body is just built differently.
I know people say that, but it really is. We’ll see what his status is this week. Having a Saturday game and then a Christmas game does complicate things.”
Rapoport referred to the 2022-23 playoffs when Mahomes suffered an ankle injury during the divisional round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Mahomes missed a single quarter before returning to finish the game and did not miss any further action during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run.
However, this situation differs due to the tight schedule, with the Chiefs playing two games in quick succession: the Houston Texans on Saturday, Dec. 21, and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
The compressed timeline may have factored into Andy Reid’s decision to remove Mahomes from the Week 15 game.
In the 2022-23 playoffs, Mahomes had eight days to recover before the AFC Championship and two full weeks before the Super Bowl.
By noon Monday, Rapoport provided another update, confirming that Mahomes was diagnosed with a “mild” high ankle sprain after further testing.
He added that while Mahomes’ status for Week 16 against the Texans remains uncertain, the team will monitor his progress during practice this week.
Andy Reid is expected to offer more details on Tuesday, but there’s little doubt Mahomes will push to play against the Texans.
However, with limited time to recover ahead of the next two games, the Chiefs may have to step in and decide to hold him out to avoid aggravating the injury.
