It was just over two weeks ago that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and likely NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain in the team’s NFL Divisional Playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In stunning fashion, Mahomes was able to return in the second half of the game. He also started Kansas City’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game despite being hobbled throughout.
Typically, injuries of this ilk cost players at least a month of action. With his Chiefs set to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII come Sunday afternoon in Arizona, there’s little doubt that Mahomes will be on the field. The question here is just how close to 100% he will be.
In talking to the media during Monday’s “Super Bowl Opening Night,” Mahomes provided an injury update. It has to be considered positive on all accounts.
Mahomes told the media that his ankle is “trending in the right direction” and he’s going to do “everything” possible to get it as close to 100%. Mahomes continued by saying that his ankle is “great” and “feeling good.”
As noted above, Mahomes was not anywhere near a full go against Cincinnati in the conference title game. Even after a scramble that led to the eventual game-winning field goal, he was limping big time.
The good news here is that there’s two weeks between NFL Championship Sunday and the Super Bowl. We’ll have a better understanding of where Mahomes stands the closer we get to kickoff on Sunday.
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Patrick Mahomes talks history and Super Bowl LVII
In his meet-and-greet with the media on Monday evening, Mahomes was asked about joining Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in making history. They will become the first pair of Black quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl. He responded in kind.
“It’s going to be a special game and special moment for a lot of kids to watch,” Mahomes said.
For Mahomes’ part, this represents his third Super Bowl appearance in four years. He led Kansas City to a comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers back in February of 2020 before losing to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following season. He enters Sunday’s game as the likely NFL MVP, an award that will be announced Thursday evening.
- Patrick Mahomes stats (2022): 67% completion, 5,250 yards, 41 TD, 12 INT
In addition to leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, Mahomes anchored the league’s top-scoring offense at 29.2 points per game.
He’ll certainly be up against it Sunday taking on an Eagles pass rush that recorded a whopping 70 sacks during the regular season. If Mahomes is limited, said pass rush will have a major impact. As for the injury, the star quarterback never even thought about sitting out the big game.
“The motivating factor is to be the best,” Mahomes added. “You are in the biggest game of your life. You want to go out there and make memories with your teammates.”
Mahomes and his Chiefs find themselves as 1.5-point underdogs heading into Super Bowl LVII.