During the second quarter of the Chiefs-Jaguars AFC Divisional Round game at Arrowhead Stadium, quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury that had him limping heavily after he was taken to the ground.
Mahomes attempted to stay in the game, which included getting his ankle taped in between series. However, he eventually went to the locker room. Backup quarterback Chad Henne then replaced Mahomes under center.
Mahomes did re-emerge on the sideline not long after heading to the locker room, but the Chiefs simultaneously announced he was questionable to return to the game. According to Ian Rapport of NFL Media, X-rays on Mahomes’s ankle came back negative, but he did appear to have suffered a high ankle sprain.
Henne led Kansas City’s offense on a 12-play, 98-yard drive during the next series that ended with Travis Kelce’s second touchdown catch of the day to take a 17-7 lead over Jacksonville.
Mahomes returned to the lineup after the half but was visibly in pain on the field. Yet, he was still able to lead two scoring drives in the second half en route to a 27-20 win for the Chiefs.
In the victory over the Jaguars, Patrick Mahomes completed 22-of-30 pass attempts for 195 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. His leading pass catcher was tight end Travis Kelce, who caught a franchise-record 14 passes for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns against Jacksonville.
The leading rusher for Kansas City was rookie Isiah Pacheco, who carried the rock 12 times for 95 yards.
The Chiefs’ defense gave up just 217 passing yards to Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, who had 1 passing touchdown and also threw a fourth-quarter interception to rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson. Kansas City’s defense also forced one other turnover by way of a fumble recovery in the second half.
The Chiefs will now advance to the AFC Championship Game and will face the winner of the AFC Divisional Round Game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.
Twitter Reacts to Mahomes’s Injury
Twitter users reacted to Mahomes’s injury during the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs.
“This tells me there’s no fracture. If there was a fx (fracture) he would have been ruled out,” one Twitter user wrote. “They’ll try to tape him up really well to recreate the stability that is lost with a high ankle sprain. Really sucks that it’s his right leg, the one he pushes off with to throw.”
“LOL well, the Chiefs will probably actually win this game because they actually have a quarterback subbed in now who can actually play in the playoffs. This is actually a lucky break haha Mahomes was about to lose another playoff game for his team,” another user wrote.
“So they’ll try to win with Henne because Pat’s injured, but if things get bad, they’ll put Pat back out there. Got it,” another user wrote.
“Do what’s best for you Patrick, I know you want to compete but it’s not worth something significant,” another user wrote.
“Obviously he is hurt enough not to go back in but at the same time there’s always a possibility….. It’s now time for the rest of the team offensively and defensively to step up give them time to rest for next week…. But we got to make it to next week,” another user wrote.
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Fans Erupt Over Jaguars Injuring Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes [LOOK]