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Wednesday, January 25, is the first day that Kansas City Chiefs players were scheduled to take to the practice field for the first time ahead of the AFC Championship Game. That meant Wednesday was quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ first chance to test his ankle in a practice setting, which was just four days after suffering a high-ankle sprain against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
But this is all assuming Mahomes is healthy enough to practice in any capacity.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid shared during his press conference prior to practice on Wednesday that Mahomes was in fact going to practice Wednesday afternoon.
“I think he’ll do probably everything,” Reid said in regard to Mahomes’ practice participation.
Mahomes also spoke to the media prior to practice but after Reid, and gave his own update on his ankle.
“It’s doing good. A few days of treatment, a few days of rehab,” Mahomes said. “Excited to get on the practice field and kind of test it out and see where I’m at. It’s feeling good so far.”
Mahomes Suffers Injury vs. Jaguars
During the second quarter of the Chiefs-Jaguars AFC Divisional Round game at Arrowhead Stadium, quarterback Mahomes suffered the ankle injury, which 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, and led a 12-play, 98-yard drive that was capped off with a touchdown on his first and only series (aside from a kneel down before halftime).
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 taken during the game on Mahomes’ ankle came back negative, but he did appear to have suffered a high-ankle sprain.
Mahomes returned to the lineup after halftime but was visibly in pain on the field. Yet, he was still able to lead two scoring drives (field goal and touchdown respectively) in the second half en route to a 27-20 win for the Chiefs.
In the victory over the Jaguars, 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.
After the game, Mahomes said his ankle was feeling better than he thought it would, and that he planned on playing in the AFC Championship Game. Big Red echoed similar remarks in regard to Mahomes’ status for the AFC Title Game during his Monday, January 23 press conference.
How Injured is Mahomes?
The real key to gauging the severity of Mahomes’ ankle sprain is his practice participation on Thursday and Friday.
Chances are, Mahomes’ ankle will feel sore in some capacity after Wednesday’s session, and his practice participation in the ensuing practices will tell us where his pain tolerance is at. That in turn can help us figure out in some capacity how healthy Mahomes will be when he faces the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
The Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship Game kicks off on Sunday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m. Central Time. The game will be available to watch on CBS.
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