In the NFL Divisional Round against the Jaguars this past Saturday, Patrick Mahomes suffered what looked like a serious high ankle sprain. This type of injury has knocked quarterbacks out of multiple games in recent history. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had to be carried to the locker room in week three this year, and he ended up missing three games and being restricted in a fourth. Mahomes on the other hand wanted to keep playing and had to be forced into the locker room by head coach Andy Reid.
Reid wanted to make sure that Mahomes hadn’t broken his ankle, so credit to him. Patrick would come back in the second half to carry the Chiefs to a win, but his play style was completely different.
This season, Mahomes led the league in passes completed outside of the pocket, but he came back in the second half, he didn’t complete a single one. Mahomes also held back from taking deep shots downfield, something that he normally doesn’t shy away from. It was clear that he was hurting, but he pushed through and got the win by completing shorter passes, and even hobbling for a first down on his only run of the second half.
After seeing his hindered play style, many fans and critics became nervous about his availability and health for the upcoming AFC Championship game against the Bengals. Today, Mahomes talked to the press and expressed that he felt “Overall probably better than [he] expected”. Multiple videos also surfaced on twitter, showing Mahomes running and practicing on his hurt ankle:
Part of me thinks that he’s pushing through the pain to make it look like he’s okay, but we’ll just have to wait and see what he looks like come Sunday. I think there is no chance that he doesn’t play, it’s just a question of if he’s going to look like himself or not.
If Mahomes can only play to the capacity he played at in the second half against the Jags, the Chiefs are screwed. The Bengals have been playing too well on both sides of the field recently, and their D line has been especially great. If Mahomes is unable to play his signature way of making magic while scrambling, the Chiefs will have a long Sunday night.