All eyes in Kansas City will be on Patrick Mahomes’ left ankle this week after the Chiefs quarterback was injured during the team’s 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The defending Super Bowl MVP got his first chance to test his ankle on Tuesday, and it was a positive development for the quarterback. Mahomes was listed as a full participant in Tuesday’s practice.
Kansas City held a light practice Tuesday and will have a similar plan for Wednesday’s practice. Mahomes won’t have a full week to recover, and that’s because the Chiefs have to turn around and play on Saturday this week against the Houston Texans.
Mahomes was injured during the fourth quarter against the Browns while trying to convert a fourth-and-3 by throwing a short pass, and as he threw the ball, two defenders caught him. Not only was Mahomes slow to get up, but he could barely walk as he left the field.
After Mahomes left the game, Carson Wentz took over as quarterback. He’ll get the start in Week 16 if Mahomes isn’t ready to start.
“It will literally be day to day,” Reid said after the win over the Browns, via The Athletic. “I probably could have gone back in. I wanted to go back in. There was no need for that.”
The injury definitely comes at an inopportune time for the Chiefs, who just began a stretch of playing three games in 10 days. In the days leading up to the Browns game, Mahomes had actually complained about the fact that the NFL was forcing his team to play three games between December 15 and 25.
“You never want to play that many games in that short amount of time,” Mahomes said. “It’s just not good for your body. But at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it.”
With the way the schedule is set up, Mahomes won’t have much time to recover. Not only will the Chiefs have a short week with Saturday’s game against Houston in Week 16, but they will also have to turn around and play four days later with a Wednesday Christmas game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even if Mahomes plays in both games, he could be hurt. And if he has to miss at some point, it would be a big deal for a Chiefs team that is trying to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.
