The Kansas City Chiefs held their collective breath late in the first half last week against the New York Jets as superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes left the field, clutching his throwing arm in obvious pain after a vicious hit to the elbow. In that moment, all of the team’s hopes for its season, which started 5-0, might have been lost. Instead, the news has gotten progressively better with each update to the QB’s health since.
Mahomes returned to the game and didn’t miss a single snap. He played well in the second half and the Chiefs ran away with the win, breaking their two-game losing streak.
The quarterback told reporters after the contest that he was not throwing the football as well as he would like early in the second half, though those issues improved as the third and fourth quarters wore on. He added that team doctors planned to conduct testing on Sunday after Mahomes finished with his media obligations.
The MRI on his elbow came back absent any concerns of serious injury, which was the first bar for Mahomes to clear after he acknowledged that issues with the elbow joint are often scary because of how unpredictable in nature they can be.
Then, on Wednesday, November 11, Kansas City announced that its two-time MVP gunslinger was a full participant in practice ahead of the Chiefs’ road matchup against the Falcons in Atlanta this weekend.
“Chiefs listed QB Patrick Mahomes as a full participant in today’s practice, putting him on track to play Sunday at Atlanta,” Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on X.
Patrick Mahomes Will Be on Field With New Chiefs’ Wide Receiver Josh Downs in Atlanta
That means Mahomes will start under center in what will be new wide receiver Josh Downs’ first game with the Chiefs.
Kansas City flipped a fourth-round pick and a fifth-rounder to the Indianapolis Colts in return for Downs and a seventh-round selection ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
The Chiefs have been short on wide receivers since before the season began, even when the group they already had was fully healthy, which hasn’t been much of the time since Week 1.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy Tracking to Play Against Falcons After Hamstring Injury vs. Jets Last Week
Rashee Rice has missed two games this season, though he is currently healthy.
Tyquan Thornton produced the best performance of his career in Week 4 before dislocating his ankle against the Las Vegas Raiders late in that game, which is going to cost the Chiefs’ top deep threat much, if not all, of the remainder of the regular season.
Xavier Worthy has played in all eight contests to this point, but he suffered a hamstring strain in the fourth quarter against the Jets last weekend.
However, head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday that Worthy was a full participant in practice and is “feeling pretty good,” which is a strong sign regarding his chances to play in Atlanta Sunday.
Chiefs Announce Major Patrick Mahomes Injury Update Before Falcons Game