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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the Chiefs’ 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round. The injury was diagnosed in-game as a high ankle sprain after x-rays came back negative, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Despite the injury, NFL Media’s James Palmer gave some telling insight into how Mahomes was handling his injury after the game.
“Not sure of the extent of the injury, but Patrick Mahomes has nothing on his right foot,” Palmer said after the Chiefs-Jaguars game. “No wrap or boot or anything. He’s rocking the same sneakers he came to the stadium in. Also not much of a limp to be honest. We’ll see.”
Having no sort of extra protection on his ankle after the game is obviously good news when it comes to the extent of Mahomes’s ankle injury. However, choosing to not use a boot or splint of any kind in front of the media could also be a calculated move for Mahomes, who might want Kansas City’s opponent for the AFC Championship Game to think he is healthy.
Mahomes Was Serviceable in Win Despite Injury
Following the ankle injury against Jacksonville, Mahomes was heavily limping and visibly in pain. However, he attempted to remain in the game — even getting his ankle heavily taped on the sideline — but wound up heading to the locker room to get further examination on his ankle.
Backup quarterback Chad Henne led a 12-play, 98-yard drive that was capped off with a Travis Kelce touchdown late in the first half while Mahomes was being evaluated. But after halftime and with a two-score lead Mahomes returned and finished the game under center for the Chiefs.
Mahomes led two scoring drives in the second half, which was enough to hold off the Jaguars at Arrowhead Stadium. He finished the game having completed 73% of his passes (22 of 30) for 195 passing yards and 2 touchdowns and had 0 turnovers.
Mahomes: Ankle Feels Better Than I Thought it Would
Speaking to the media after the game, Mahomes detailed his ankle injury and how he was feeling.
“It feels better than I thought it would feel now,” Mahomes said during his postgame press conference. “Obviously, I have a lot of adrenaline going right now we’ll see how it feels but I’ll hop right into treatment tonight and try to do whatever I can to be as close to 100% by next week but luckily for us we played the early game on Saturday so we get an extra almost half a day that I can let that ankle rest.”
Mahomes also said he didn’t receive any real treatment during the game to cope with his injury.
“No, no real treatment. You don’t have time to get treatment and stuff like that. You just put the spat on, get it tight, try to keep the swelling down and then go out there and play,” Mahomes explained.
“They made me do a couple of things in the locker room to show that I could move and protect myself if everything kind of came, pressure came, whatever it was, and credit to the team. (The) offensive line did an amazing job of protecting me, I got the ball out of my hands quickly and guys made plays. But it’s a team sport for a reason and guys stepped up around me.”
