Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs: ‘I want to be ready for the first week’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes aims to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
Mahomes underwent surgery in mid-December to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee, and he said during a Zoom call Thursday that his rehabilitation “hits all the checkpoints” that could get him back to practice this summer and possibly training camp this fall.
“I want to be ready for Week 1. The doctors say I can,” Mahomes said, “but I can’t predict what happens throughout the process. That’s the goal, to play Week 1 and not be limited. You want to be out healthy and give us the best chance to win. I hope to do some things in OTAs and training camp and be able to do things there.”
Mahomes sprained his ACL and LCL on December 14 in the dying minutes of a loss to the Chargers, effectively eliminating the Chiefs from the playoff race. At first, Mahomes said, he didn’t think the injury was that bad, so he persuaded the training staff to put extra braces on the knee so he could finish the game.
It wasn’t until an MRI revealed torn ligaments that Mahomes knew his season was over. The procedure to fix them was done about 24 hours later by the renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dan Cooper in Dallas.
The recovery time for such an injury is about nine months, although it can vary by several months depending on various factors. The next season is expected to start on September 10, 2026, and the Chiefs may play their first game a few days later.
“What I found out about this program is that not every day is going to feel amazing,” Mahomes said. “You have to have someone you trust who will do what’s right for you but that will keep you safe.”
Mahomes has been rehabilitating in Kansas City with Chiefs therapist Julie Frymyer, who helped him recover from a minor injury in the past. Mahomes will also travel to Dallas to receive checks with Cooper and his staff.
“What I got from my doctor was obviously I have an ACL and LCL but everything else was clean,” Mahomes said in his first comments since the injury. “Even though it was bad, it was as clean as it could be. There’s a lot of little things that could happen around town that I didn’t know about. Now it’s time to renovate and fix the ACL and LCL.”
That has been a challenge. Frymyer and Cooper have given Mahomes some benchmarks to hit, and he always wants to take it a little further, though he also understands the risks of trying to come back too quickly.
“Unknowingly, I’m going to take it to the limit every day,” Mahomes said. “There are places you can’t go yet. You want to, but you can’t go yet. And they do it for a reason. It starts with Dr. Cooper and his team, and Julie and the training room.”
The Chiefs may look very different if Mahomes returns to the field. Not only do they have some big roster decisions to make but they could also have a new offensive coordinator, with Matt Nagy interviewing for multiple head coaching jobs.
But change would be welcome for an offense that struggled last season and was one of the main reasons Kansas City ended its nine-year streak of AFC West titles and missed out completely for the first time in a decade.
“I know Master [Andy] Reid, if coach Nagy can find another head coaching job, he will have a good plan on who he wants to bring in,” said Mahomes. “I just want someone who loves football, cares about football, who wants to give everything he can to win and bring new ideas every day. That’s what you have to do if you want to be great in this league.”
