Getty Patrick Mahomes has been battling an ankle injury.
On a fourth down in the first half against the Broncos, Patrick Mahomes attempted a quarterback sneak and went down in pain immediately after the play. He was holding his knee and went back to the locker room before being ruled out shortly after.
Mahomes has been battling an ankle injury since the Chiefs’ Week 1 matchup against the Jaguars. Heading into Week 7, the injury has not caused Mahomes to miss any time, but the Chiefs quarterback’s mobility looks to have been limited as the season has progressed.
Mahomes’ injury was officially called a sprained ankle after Week 1, per Bleacher Report. Since Week 1, there have been several plays where it appeared Mahomes reaggravated the injury. The injury initially occurred on the play below where his ankle turned during a tackle.
Heading into the Chiefs matchup with the Broncos, Mahomes downplayed the injury noting he still feels like he could scramble when needed during plays.
“I feel like I’m good now, honestly,” Mahomes said, per USA Today. “I’m still able to scramble, I’m still able to run and do all those different things. Obviously, I’ll still get treatment and stuff like that, but I feel like I can still do everything I need to do.”
Mahomes “Tweaked” His Ankle Again Against the Colts & Texans
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid noted after the Chiefs’ Week 5 matchup against the Colts that Mahomes had once again “tweaked” his ankle. After the game, Mahomes admitted that he reaggravated the injury several times during the game.
“Just reaggravated it a little bit there in the first half and then got stepped on in the second half,” Mahomes explained ESPN. “Obviously it’s going to be a little sore tomorrow.”
Mahomes also appeared to re-injure his ankle the following week against the Texans. Here is the look at the play against the Texans where Mahomes came up limping.
This play was the game.
#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes appears to re-injure his ankle and also smacks his head off the turf.
Before: 10/16, 189 yards, 2 TDs (about 20 mins. of game time)
After: 9/19, 84 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (about 40 mins. game time)
Mahomes shot down the notion that it was reinjured along with the idea that his injury is compromising his play on the field.
“I don’t know if I necessarily aggravated it, a big dude just fell on it,” Mahomes explained, per Arrowhead Pride. “I think if it was hurt before or it wasn’t hurt, it would’ve hurt anyways from that guy falling on it…If I felt like my ankle was affecting the team and the success of the offense, I would for sure move on. At the same time I feel like I’m still able to move around, run, scramble, throw and we just haven’t executed at a high enough success rate as an offense.”
The Chiefs Will Not Put Mahomes in “Harm’s Way”
Reid has admitted that Mahomes is battling an ankle injury, but has also downplayed its significance. Prior to the Texans game, Reid noted that the team would not play the quarterback if they felt his injury was significant.
“We’re not going to put him in harm’s way,” Reid noted to ESPN. “That’s not how we roll here. If we thought it was going to hurt him down the road, he wouldn’t be in there.”
While it is clear that Mahomes is not going to make excuses, his ankle is clearly impacting his play on the field, at the very least, limiting the mobility we are used to seeing him display. The reality is that even if Mahomes is not 100 percent he is still better than most quarterbacks, a nod to his talent level.