Patrick Mahomes Seeking Second Opinion
Patrick Mahomes‘ MRI did not slam the door on the Chiefs quarterback returning this season, but the parties are still gathering information. Mahomes will seek a second opinion on the dislocated kneecap he suffered, Terez Paylor of Yahoo.com tweets. A Mahomes return this season may be a dicey process, however. This injury carries a significant risk of re-dislocation, former Chargers team physician David Chao writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mahomes will likely need surgery after the season, should he decide to put it off until then, putting him out for most of Kansas City’s 2020 offseason program. But for now, a potential return — likely after K.C.’s Week 12 bye, though Albert Breer of SI.com tweets a return before then is not out of the question — is on the table.
- Chad Henne‘s preseason ankle surgery, which prompted the Chiefs to place him on IR and sign Matt Moore, was not a season-ending operation. Henne is a few weeks away from being ready to return, per Paylor. With Henne having been with the Chiefs for two seasons now, this would seemingly be a superior option to Moore. The 35-year-old ex-Dolphin was working as a Dolphins scout earlier this year after spending 2018 out of football. Moore was helping the Dolphins’ scouting department and serving as an assistant coach at his former high school, William S. Hart High in California, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com notes. Henne becomes eligible to return from IR in Week 9.
- While the Chiefs lost the highest-profile player in Thursday’s game, the Broncos lost another defensive starter. Safety Will Parks left Thursday’s game with a thumb injury, and Mike Klis of 9News notes the fourth-year defender has already undergone surgery. Parks is expected to miss at least two games. The 2-5 team is now down Parks, Bradley Chubb and Bryce Callahan on defense.
Latest On Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will miss at least three weeks following Thursday night’s knee injury, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Mahomes will know more about his situation soon, when doctors have a closer look. 
[RELATED: Patrick Mahomes Exits Game With Knee Injury]
Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap, but no additional severe damage, Ian Rapoport and James Palmer of NFL.com (on Twitter) hear. With that in mind, it’s possible that he’ll miss only a handful of games.
Three weeks would be the best case scenario for the superstar. The worst case scenario is something that Mahomes doesn’t even want to think about. For what it’s worth, Mahomes is keeping things positive on Twitter:
“Awesome team win! Love my brothers! Thank you for all the prayers! Everything looking good so far! #GodisGood #ChiefsKingdom”
Even after Mahomes’ exit, the Chiefs managed to hang on and win 30-6 over the Broncos. They’re now 5-2 as they look ahead to the Packers on Nov. 27. For now, Matt Moore is slated to start that game under center.
If Mahomes misses three games, the Chiefs will only have to hang tight for contests against the Packers, Vikings, and Titans. After that, they have their Week 12 bye.
Patrick Mahomes Suffers Knee Injury
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, already battling an ankle issue, left Thursday night’s contest against the Broncos after suffering a knee injury on a quarterback sneak. Kansas City ruled Mahomes out for the rest of tonight’s game but provided no further update on his status.
Mahomes suffered a patella (kneecap) dislocation, tweets James Palmer of NFL.com. While the star signal-caller didn’t suffer a break, Mahomes will need to wait for the results of an MRI to reveal if he damaged any ligaments, per Palmer.
The defending league MVP, Mahomes is arguably the brightest spot in today’s NFL, and losing him for any period of time would be a blow for the league as a whole. The Chiefs, who hold a half-game lead over the Raiders in the AFC West, have turned to backup Matt Moore to hold down the fort in Mahomes’ absence.
Mahomes, 24, wowed during his first season as Kansas City’s starter, leading the league in touchdown passes, adjusted yards per attempt, and ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating. Heading into Week 7, Mahomes was first among all NFL passers with 2,104 yards through the air, and while regression and his aforementioned ankle injury had put a damper on some of his production, he’d still posted 14 touchdown passes against only one interception.
If Mahomes is forced to miss time, the Chiefs would need to lean on rushing attack lead by Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy, a duo that’s played a part in Kansas City ranking just 20th in Football Outsiders’ rushing DVOA. The Chiefs’ defense, which has performed decently against the pass but is sieve against the run, would also need to step up if Mahomes is sidelined.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/16/19
Here is the latest from the workout circuit:
Chicago Bears
- DL Daryle Banfield, DL Fadol Brown, C Anthony Fabiano, DL P.J. Johnson, T Kyle Murphy, C Keegan Render, DL Jay-Tee Tiuli (per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, on Twitter)
Cincinnati Bengals
- DE Nate Orchard, DT Anthony Zettel (via the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, on Twitter)
Cleveland Browns
- LB Marquis Flowers (per Wilson, on Twitter)
Green Bay Packers
- S Chris Johnson, RB David Williams (per Wilson, on Twitter)
Houston Texans
- T Chris Clark, T Kyle Murphy (per Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com, on Twitter)
Indianapolis Colts
- DB Trae Elston, S Mike Tyson, DB Isaiah Wharton (via Wilson, on Twitter)
Kansas City Chiefs
- DT Justin Ellis, DL Mike Pennel (per Wilson, on Twitter)
New England Patriots
- K Nick Folk, K Greg Joseph, K Austin MacGinnis, K/P Austin Rehkow, K Giorgio Tavecchio (per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
New Orleans Saints
- RB Travaris Cadet (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter)
New York Jets
- C Ryan Crozier, DL Corbin Kaufusi, C James Murray (per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News and Wilson, Twitter links)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- RB Tony Brooks-James, RB Darrin Hall (via Wilson, on Twitter)
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Andrew Dowell (visit), LB Brady Sheldon, LB Sutton Smith, LB Pita Taumoepenu (via Balzer, Twitter links)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- LB Keishawn Bierria, DB Jordan Brown, C Anthony Fabiano, LB Robert McCray, WR Eli Rogers, RB Aca’Cedric Ware, LB Kyle Wilson (per Jenna Laine and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
Tennessee Titans
- LB Nigel Harris (per Wilson, on Twitter)
Washington Redskins
- FB Tommy Bohanon, FB Michael Burton, FB Derrick Coleman, RB Josh Ferguson, FB Tre Madden, FB Elijah Wellman (according to Wilson and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Twitter links)
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/15/19
A look at the latest NFL practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: TE Carson Meier
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Denzel Rice
- Released: S A.J. Howard
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: WR Jordan Veasy
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DL Fadol Brown
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: WR Gehrig Dieter
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: TE Stephen Anderson, C Cole Toner
- Placed on practice squad IR: RB Detrez Newsome
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: WR Nsimba Webster
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Davion Davis
New England Patriots
- Signed: OL Tyler Gauthier, WR Devin Ross
- Released: K Younghoe Koo, TE Jason Vander Laan
New York Giants
- Signed: RB Jon Hilliman
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: RB James Butler, WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams
- Released: RB Damarea Crockett, DE Quinton Bell
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: RB De’Angelo Henderson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: RB Tony Brooks-James, T Christian DiLauro
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: WR Deontay Burnett
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: CB Brian Allen, S Adrian Colbert, TE Tyrone Swoopes, T Chad Wheeler
- Released: LB Malik Carney, CB Parry Nickerson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: LB Demone Harris, RB Darius Jackson
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Nigel Harris
- Released: LB Ukeme Eligwe
Washington Redskins
- Signed: TE Wes Saxton, DB Maurice Smith
- Released: TE Drew Belcher, T Victor Salako
Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill To Play Week 6
The Chiefs will welcome back wide receiver Tyreek Hill today, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This marks the first time since Week 1 that Hill will see game action.
And it couldn’t come at a better time. Though Kansas City has raced out to a 4-1 record, the club nearly lost to the Lions several weeks ago — a game in which QB Patrick Mahomes failed to throw a TD pass for the first time since Week 5 of the 2018 season — and the Chiefs were stymied by the Colts last week. Although a number of players have stepped up in Hill’s absence, KC is doubtlessly thrilled to get one of its top playmakers back.
Hill suffered a serious clavicle injury in the first game of the season during Kansas City’s win over Jacksonville, and he had to be taken to the hospital. He returned to practice earlier this month and will be a part of the Chiefs’ aerial attack in their much-anticipated showdown with the Texans this afternoon.
After a tumultuous offseason in which Hill’s NFL career appeared to be in jeopardy, his Week 1 injury was not an ideal start to his 2019 campaign. Now fully healed, Hill will attempt to limit his headline-making to his on-field exploits.
Kafka Potential Future HC?
- Add one more young assistant coach to the list of ones to monitor in the Chiefs’ Mike Kafka. Kafka is “very well respected” and is a possible future head coach, tweets Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL radio. Kafka was a former backup quarterback for the Eagles, and he now works under his former head coach Andy Reid. Kafka is Patrick Mahomes‘ position coach and there’s a long history of former Reid assistants landing head jobs, so it certainly makes sense.
Tyreek Hill A Game-Time Decision
It is possible the Chiefs will have neither of their top two wideouts going into their Week 6 home game against the Texans. Sammy Watkins is listed as doubtful to suit up, and Andy Reid called Tyreek Hill a game-time decision. Hill suffered an unusual clavicle injury early in Week 1 and has not played since. The veteran wideout, whose status for the Chiefs’ early-season games was in doubt for months because of more off-field trouble, returned to practice last week. Hill not playing would give the Chiefs’ auxiliary trio of Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle — each of whom having posted a 100-yard game this season — an interesting opportunity to work in bigger roles. Hill’s return not coming in Week 6 would almost certainly mean a Week 7 re-emergence.
Extra Points: Gronk, Patriots, WRs, Draft
Rob Gronkowski debuted as a FOX analyst Thursday night, but his former job continues to come up. Robert Kraft has yet to give up hope on the future Hall of Fame tight end returning to the Patriots.
“We all love Gronk, and I think the bottom line is he hasn’t put his retirement papers in,” Kraft said during an NFL Network appearance (Twitter link). “We can always pray and hope …. That’s a good academic argument that there is hope for us still with Gronk.”
The 30-year-old New England icon has continually denied he wants to come out of retirement but refuses to completely slam the door on a possible 10th season. Gronkowski said during his intro FOX broadcast he will “always keep the door open” for a Pats return. He said in August he was healthy enough to play. The team lost Josh Gordon in the first half of tonight’s game, and although it does not seem like the injury is serious — Gordon is questionable to return — the Pats’ offense is not as well-rounded as it was when Gronk created constant mismatches.
Here is the latest from around the league and the 2020 draft:
- The Patriots’ high-profile attempt at bringing in a Gronk-level talent ended with Antonio Brown‘s release after 11 days. Brown remains accused of sexual misconduct by two women. The first, Britney Taylor, refiled her civil suit against the unemployed wide receiver in Florida state court, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Taylor’s attorneys categorize this as a strategic move and indicated new counsel has joined the case. A league investigation is ongoing as well. No team has been closely connected to the 31-year-old superstar since the Patriots cut him last month.
- As for elite wideouts still in the league, evaluators shared some interesting views in a piece by The Athletic similar to its quarterback-tiers arrangement. Odell Beckham Jr. and Tyreek Hill join Julio Jones on the top tier here, with NFL personnel viewing DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Thomas as high-second-tier talents (subscription required). Hopkins’ penchant for contested catches prompted one OC to indicate the fear factor surrounding the Texans wideout is not the same as it is when game-planning for Jones or Beckham.
- Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses is set to miss all of his junior season because of a knee injury, but the might-have-been first-round talent still has NFL supporters should he declare for the 2020 draft. A group of NFL evaluators view Moses as being a second- or third-round prospect in 2020, Mike Rodak of al.com notes. Moses would be one of many Crimson Tide draftees in the 2020 draft, should he declare, with ESPN.com’s Todd McShay ranking six Alabama standouts in his top 30.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/9/19
Here are Wednesday’s updates from the workout circuit. Unless otherwise noted, all links go to the Twitter account of the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson.
Arizona Cardinals
- LB Deshaun Davis, LB Nick DeLuca, LB Nigel Harris, LB Malcolm Smith, LB Ramik Wilson (link)
Cleveland Browns
- LB Joe Dineen, LB Jawaun Johnson (Twitter link via Wilson)
Kansas City Chiefs
- DT Earl Mitchell (link)
San Francisco 49ers
- FB George Aston, FB Tommy Bohanon, FB Michael Burton, FB Derrick Coleman, FB Tre Madden, FB Ricky Ortiz, FB Aaron Ripkowski, per ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter)
Seattle Seahawks
- OL Christian DiLauro, OL Dieugot Joseph, OL Chad Wheeler (link)