The Kansas City Chiefs can breathe again: the Mahomes elbow injury that scared Arrowhead on Sunday does not look major.
Patrick Mahomes had an MRI on his right elbow after Sunday’s 35-12 win over the New York Jets, and the test did not show a major injury, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. The team will monitor the elbow over the next few days for pain and swelling, but the worst-case scenario that flashed through Kansas City for a few minutes before halftime appears to be off the table.
The play that stopped Arrowhead
With 1:33 left in the second quarter, Mahomes dropped back and was hit by three Jets defenders at once. Rookie edge rusher David Bailey got to his throwing arm mid-release, with Will McDonald IV and Darrell Jackson Jr. also in on the play. Mahomes’ right elbow bent awkwardly backward, the ball came out, and the Jets recovered the fumble.
Mahomes walked to the sideline with his right arm hanging at his side. For a franchise that has built everything around him, it was about as scary a sight as there is.
Then things broke Kansas City’s way. The Jets missed a field goal on the possession that followed the turnover, and by the time the Chiefs got the ball back, Mahomes had been throwing on the sideline to get the arm loose. He didn’t miss an offensive snap until the game was out of reach late in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes elbow injury: what he and Reid said
Mahomes didn’t hide that it hurt. He said the hit scared him in the moment and that the elbow didn’t feel great, but that work from the training staff, especially at halftime, got him through. He also said being able to throw convinced him it was a muscle issue rather than a ligament problem, which the MRI appears to have backed up.
His message about next week was simple: “If I’m able to play, I’m going to play.”
Head coach Andy Reid said Mahomes “did some nice things” even with the sore arm, and admitted he didn’t know his quarterback’s exact status until the Chiefs were getting ready for their next series.
The game itself
The injury overshadowed what was otherwise a clean, convincing win for a team that needed one.
Mahomes completed 23 of 31 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, both before the injury. Running back Kenneth Walker scored three touchdowns, and Kansas City pulled away after halftime, stretching the lead to 21-12 on its first possession of the third quarter, and the defense shut the Jets out over the final two quarters.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and moved the Chiefs to 6-2. The Jets fell to 2-7.
| Chiefs 35, Jets 12 | |
|---|---|
| Mahomes | 23 of 31, 242 yards, 2 TD |
| Kenneth Walker | 3 touchdowns |
| Chiefs record | 6-2 (snapped 2-game skid) |
| Jets record | 2-7 |
A season built on getting Mahomes back
This scare hit harder because of where Kansas City started. Mahomes opened the season playing on a surgically repaired left knee, wearing a brace in the Week 1 win over Denver. The Chiefs eased the load by signing Kenneth Walker III, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, and the plan worked: Walker ran for 173 yards in his debut, and Kansas City won its first five games.
Then came two straight losses before Sunday. The last thing the Chiefs needed during that wobble was another injury to their quarterback, which is why the sight of Mahomes holding his arm at his side quieted Arrowhead so quickly.
The early-season win over Denver also matters now. Kansas City beat the Broncos 31-10 in Week 1, so the Chiefs already own one head-to-head result in the division race. A healthy Mahomes gives them a real shot to turn that into an edge over the final two months.
Why this matters in the AFC West
Kansas City doesn’t have a lot of room to work with. Denver beat Carolina 26-21 on Sunday for its fifth straight win and sits at 7-2, a half-game ahead of the Chiefs in the AFC West.
The Broncos have already played nine games to Kansas City’s eight, so the Chiefs control part of their own math. But any stretch without Mahomes would put that division race in serious danger, and a top playoff seed with it. That’s why Sunday night’s MRI result is the most important piece of Chiefs news this week, more than anything that happened on the field.
What to watch this week
A clean MRI isn’t the same as a clean bill of health. A few things will tell us how close Mahomes is to normal:
- The first practice report of the week. Whether Mahomes is listed as a full participant, limited, or held out on Wednesday will say a lot about how the elbow responded to the first couple of days.
- How he throws. Elbow soreness tends to show up in velocity and on deep balls. If Mahomes practices fully and Reid sounds relaxed, it’s likely a non-story by Friday.
- The Friday injury designation. Any designation at all would be a sign the team is still being careful.
For fantasy managers, the news is about as good as it could have been. Mahomes stays in lineups for Week 10 unless something changes in practice. Check the Wednesday and Thursday reports before locking anything in, though. Walker, who scored multiple touchdowns in three of the Chiefs’ first four games, remains the engine of this offense either way.
Next up: Atlanta
The Chiefs head to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
Atlanta is coming off a 34-17 loss to Cincinnati in Madrid and has dropped two straight to fall to 3-6. Running back Bijan Robinson ran for 100 yards against the Bengals, so the Falcons can still move the ball on the ground, but their passing game has stalled. For a Chiefs team trying to keep pace with Denver, this is a game they’ll expect to win, with or without a little soreness in their quarterback’s throwing arm.
The bigger takeaway from Sunday is simple. Kansas City got the win, avoided the injury everyone feared, and goes into Week 10 with its season still very much on track.
Sources: ProFootballTalk, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, Inquisitr, CBS Sports scoreboard, KCTV5
Join the conversation