Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL last year, setting up a lengthy recovery period and raising questions about his availability to start the 2026 regular season.
Mahomes went down on December 14, exactly nine months before Kansas City’s Week 1 opener against the Broncos. Nine months has become the standard return timeline for major knee injuries, but that does not account for set-backs or ramp-up times.
The two-time MVP has maintained Week 1 as his return target, bolstered by partial participation in OTAs and an expectation of being cleared for full-team work in training camp.
The Chiefs are optimistic about their star’s outlook after he has relentlessly attacked his rehab for the last several months, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
“It certainly does seem that Mahomes is on track to be on the field Week 1,” he added.
Few players hold their team’s destiny so fully in their hands as Mahomes does in Kansas City. The Chiefs went 6-8 in his starts last year and, despite their coaching and roster talent, are seen as a borderline playoff team without him. But if he is under center come Week 1, they will likely return to their perennial status as Super Bowl contenders, if not outright favorites in the AFC.
Gee, I hope he recovers in time to pitch us some State Farm insurance.
Hasn’t played well for years, top 16 level. Don’t really care.
lmao
So silly. You’re 30 against a serious combination of tears… They’re definitely erroring on the side of caution. See ya week 5-7.
Go Chiefs
He hasn’t played well for years…..that comment was ridiculous, he’s great, the coaching is what was getting stale, the Chiefs put the entire team on his back with sub par o-line, receivers, and a horrible running game and we all expected the usual MaHomes miracles, it’s about time they finally got him a starting quality running game , Pacheco was Pasucko…….anybody that plays in the NFL has nothing but praise for MaHomes game, if he quit tomorrow he’d be an automatic Hall of Famer……the comment about hasn’t played well for years was just ignorant
…….3 SuperBowl rings, 5 SuperBowl appearances, what quarterback wouldn’t want that in an entire career…..he’s only 30
Go Chiefs!