All eyes in Kansas City are going to 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.
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, and right now, the Chiefs QB just isn't sure if he'll be able to play.
"It's hard to say right now,'' Mahomes said of his status for Week 16, via ESPN. "You still [have the] adrenaline rolling and usually it's kind of the day after when you kind of get a good sense of it."
The Chiefs' first practice of the week is on Tuesday, and coach Andy Reid said that Mahomes will do some work during the session and the team will "see how it works out for him."
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 was throwing the ball, he got sandwiched by two defenders. Not only was Mahomes slow to get up, but he could barely walk as he headed off the field.
Patrick Mahomes limps off after getting tangled up on a failed 4th down pic.twitter.com/WnIgmsscfN
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 15, 2024
After Mahomes left the game, Carson Wentz took over at quarterback and that's who will get the start on Saturday against the Houston Texans if Mahomes can't go.
According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, Mahomes has a high ankle sprain and is considered week to week. The only good news the Chiefs got is that Mahomes didn't break his ankle. Reid gave his QB a slightly more optimistic diagnosis, calling Mahomes "day to day."
"It'll literally be day to day," Reid said following the win over the Browns, via The Athletic. "He probably could've gone back in. He wanted to go back in. There was no need for that."
The injury definitely comes at an inopportune time for the Chiefs, who just started a span 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 Dec. 15 and Dec. 25.
"You never want to play this many games in this short of time," Mahomes said. "It's just not great 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 isn't going to have much time to heal. Not only will the Chiefs' be on a short week with the Saturday game against Houston coming up in Week 16, but they also have to turn around and play four days after that with a Wednesday game on Christmas against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even if Mahomes plays in both of those games, he could be hobbled, but if he has to miss any time, that would be a huge problem for a Chiefs team that's trying to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.
