The Kansas City Chiefs have battled through a number of injuries and player absences throughout 2024, from Harrison Butker to Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco. But Patrick Mahomes‘ high-ankle sprain could change absolutely everything for a team that is a handful of games away from NFL history.
Mahomes suffered his injury in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs‘ 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday; given the score, head coach Andy Reid opted to remove Mahomes and replace him with backup Carson Wentz for the last few minutes of the game. With three games remaining in the regular season, the 13-1 Chiefs have a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bills for the top seed in the AFC playoffs — a margin that will be tested if Mahomes, deemed “week-to-week”, misses multiple games.
Reid: Mahomes wanted to fight me!
Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion, is well-known as one of the NFL’s most fiery competitors. That fire began to burn again when Reid approached his star quarterback to let him know he was going to turn to Wentz on Sunday afternoon.
“He wanted to fight about it, but we’ve got good support there behind him with Carson and it was good to get him a few reps in there too, and let our guys hear that snap count in case he has to go,” Reid explained to reporters about his interaction with Mahomes.
This was Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes walking off the field to the locker room after the game. pic.twitter.com/HwGdSqTFSo
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) December 15, 2024
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Reid said in a different stadium, and with a different score, Mahomes could have stayed in the game — which has to be viewed as good news for the Chiefs and their “Kingdom” of fans. And even if Mahomes has to miss a game or two before the playoffs — and the Super Bowl three-peat pursuit — begin next month, he told the media on Sunday that he has full faith in Wentz, who is a former #2 overall pick who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.
“I have a lot of trust in Carson, too,” Mahomes said. “We put him out there and I thought he did a great job moving the football, running time off the clock and putting us in a position to win the football game.”
“May miss the next game or two – He’ll be back it’s just a matter of when” 👀 @SICscore@ProFootballDoc on #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ ankle sprain…#NFL #SportsNews
#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/LQOvneuTr3— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) December 16, 2024
