KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The day after Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes He suffered a season-ending torn cruciate ligament in his left knee, and coach Andy Reid said an MRI Sunday night showed the star quarterback did not have significant damage to other ligaments.
Reid also reported that Mahomes is heading to Dallas to get a second opinion from Dr. Daniel Cooper on his knees. Dallas Cowboys– chief team doctor. Mahomes is expected to undergo surgery later this week.
“He's going to attack it like he does everything else,” Reed said of Mahomes' upcoming rehab. “There were some really good quarterbacks who got hurt like that and they did pretty well after they came back. He will get through this and he has good people here who will rehabilitate him. He'll be on top of it all.”
“If the surgery goes well as expected, I expect a pretty quick recovery for him because of those factors.”
Mahomes got injured There were less than two minutes left in Sunday's 16-13 loss to the team. Los Angeles Chargersa result that ended the Chiefs' playoff hopes.
Trying to rally the Chiefs, he got out of the pocket and rolled to his right while being chased by a defender. Da'Shawn Hand. After Mahomes planted his left foot and threw the ball away for an incompletion, his left knee buckled. Falling onto the turf, Mahomes immediately grabbed his left knee and winced in pain.
“I don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on social media. “And I won't lie, [it] hurts. But all we can do now is [trust] in God and attack every day again and again. Thank you, Chiefs Kingdom, for always supporting me and for everyone who reached out and prayed. I [will] come back stronger than ever.”
Following the surgery, Mahomes will miss the team's offseason program and is questionable about his availability for the start of next season.
Mahomes, 30, has avoided serious injury throughout his NFL career. He dislocated his right kneecap while running a quarterback sneak in 2019, but missed just two games—the longest absence of his career—and later that season led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years. In the 2020 playoffs, Mahomes returned from a concussion and played with a bunion on his left toe, an injury that required surgery in the offseason. And his most heroic moment of playing through pain came in the 2022 postseason, when he led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory while dealing with a high sprain in his right ankle.
“I had a good visit with him a couple of times,” Reid said of Mahomes’ reaction and attitude. “He's in a good place. He feels like he's letting people down. He is ready for the challenges ahead. He just needs to get through the surgery, whatever it is. I know he'll come out of this strong.”
The Chiefs' offseason priority list should now include a quarterback. The team does not have another defenseman under contract through the 2026 season.
Reserve defender Gardner MinshewA five-year veteran, he is expected to start the team's final three games of the regular season. This stretch will serve as Minshew's audition to remain with the Chiefs next season.
“I have a lot of confidence in Gardner,” Reed said. “I’ve seen him play against other teams, he’s started in the league and our guys have confidence in him.”
