Patrick Mahomes is done for the season and so are the Kansas City Chiefs. Now the query is how a lot the quarterback’s torn ACL will have an effect on the 2026 season.
Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs‘ vp of sports activities drugs and efficiency, addressed that question with reporters on Wednesday, two days after Mahomes went under the knife for both a torn ACL and LCL. He projected optimism that Mahomes would get pleasure from a profitable rehab, with a really free restoration timeline of 9 months:
“Every player is different. Every sport’s different. Every position is different. With him, traditionally, he’s going after it so hard and he’s so in tune with what he does, he does it a little quicker. Ballpark on this is nine months. Could be a month or two less, a month or two more. You never know what goes on and everyone’s designed biomechanically, and so you just have to go through it.
A timeline of nine months from Monday would fall on Sept. 15, five days after the NFL is scheduled to begin the 2026 season. That makes the give-or-take of two months quite consequential.
Advertisement
On the quicker end, Mahomes could be ready for Week 1 with time to spare. On the slower end, he doesn’t make his debut until November. Given how important the 30-year-old is to the future of the franchise, it has every reason to be cautious.
Patrick Mahomes’ 2026 availability is up in the air. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
(Kevin Sabitus through Getty Images)
That makes this offseason a tough one for a Kansas City team at a crossroads. After years of contending and successful, the wheels got here off in 2025 and placing them again on once more possible means some vital roster adjustments for the staff. If Mahomes is not taking part in, that is all of the extra purpose to strategy 2026 as a rebuilding yr.
[Get more Chiefs news: Kansas City team feed]
Burkholder stated Mahomes’ damage did not come with something extra regarding than the torn ligaments, and revealed the quarterback has already began rehab:
“They stated that every thing he had on this damage was fixable, correctable. And it was mounted on Monday night time by Dr. Cooper. He had no artery harm, no nerve harm, no joint floor harm, no meniscal harm. He’s already began rehab down in Dallas. He was there very first thing Tuesday morning and he’ll do this by means of tomorrow. Then he’ll be again right here Friday.”
As Mahomes makes his manner again, the Chiefs will formally finish their season with video games towards the Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.