Mahomes ignores ‘scary’ injury in key KC win, hopes to face Denver

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a moment Monday night, Patrick Mahomes said he feared the worst. He had to be helped up after injuring his left ankle in the fourth quarter and for a few seconds he wondered if he could finish the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“It’s definitely scary,” Mahomes said later. “I think it hurt more just because it’s the same ankle I sprained last week, so it scared me a little bit.

“When you don’t know exactly what’s happening and you feel that sharp pain, you always fear the worst.”

Everything went well for Mahomes, who was able to stay in the game and threw another touchdown pass to put the Chiefs ahead. After the Bucs scored to send the game to overtime, Mahomes engineered a 10-play drive that ended with a 2-yard Kareem Hunt touchdown to give the Chiefs a 30-24 victory and an 8-0 record. .

Mahomes injured his right ankle in a 2022 playoff victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Coach Andy Reid pulled him from that contest over Mahomes’ protests and did not allow him to return until he had an x-ray.

This time, Reid again told Mahomes that he was leaving the game.

“I thought he was joking,” Mahomes said. “I thought, ‘Come on, we’re not doing this again.'”

Reid even went so far as to tell backup quarterback Carson Wentz to get ready.

“He’s a competitor,” Reid said of Mahomes. “I told him I was going to eliminate him and he probably wanted to fight me, so he’s a tough guy.”

Reid relented after Mahomes said the injury was not as serious as the 2022 postseason injury. Mahomes was also examined by doctors and had some mobility tests performed on the sidelines.

Mahomes said he would be ready to play in Sunday’s home game against the Denver Broncos.

Mahomes was injured on a non-contact play while throwing a touchdown pass to running back Samaje Perine.

“Obviously I was running toward the goal line and I was committed to running the ball and at the last second [passed to] Samaje, so I twisted my ankle a little bit awkwardly,” Mahomes said. “You feel the pain and it scares you. I’ve dealt with ankles before, but I just stayed there and as time went on the pain subsided.

“I just got back into it and got moving again and felt comfortable going out there.”

“The playoffs a couple of years ago was a little bit about how I got tackled,” he explained. “It got stuck and it hurt a lot more. [This time] I could move, I could still have mobility in my ankle and I still have it after this game. I’ll probably swell a little tomorrow. But with a short week, you come in, you take care of it and you’re ready to play the next week.”