Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended all uncertainty regarding his status for Sunday’s AFC championship against Buffalo Bills when he took the podium to speak to the media on Friday via Zoom’s teleconference.
“Yes, I actually just left the protocol,” said Mahomes, murmuring the words that Chiefs fans have been waiting to hear since Sunday. “The week was a lot of tests, a lot of different things just to make sure that I’m ready to go. No long-term effects or anything like that, but it’s okay, and I went through what the three or four doctors said and everything seemed fine, and I’m out now. “
Mahomes was injured in an optional game during the third quarter of the team’s victory in the 22-17 divisional round over the Cleveland Browns. Mahomes noted that the Chiefs had made the same move early in the game – but this time, he received an unpleasant tackle from the Browns’ linebacker, Mack Wilson.
“I ran to the right, obviously I was hit, I tried to get up, I felt my legs burst,” explains Mahomes. “I knew this was not a good thing, so I was able to be grabbed. I remember that before I left the field, I was telling the coaches to let me stay there, so that Chad (Henne) could warm up because I knew we were about to go to the fourth downhill and I went to the tests and everything. “
Before the upper body injury, Mahomes injured his left toe in the second quarter. He seemed hampered by the problem soon after, but he performed better in the third period before having to leave the game.
Five days later, he described how this problem was also alleviated during the championship.
“You are feeling much better,” said Mahomes of the toe. “I mean, the next day (Monday) I was very sore and, every day, since then, it has gotten much better. It’s something you deal with as a football player – you deal with injuries and, luckily for me, it wasn’t as bad as it looked and felt the next day. ”
Due to the protocol, Mahomes was somewhat restricted in what he could do. The bosses labeled him limited throughout the week, although he enters Sunday with no indication of injury. This means that it is good to play.
“You just have to deal with it day after day – I think this is the most important thing,” said Mahomes. “You can only control what you can control and for me it was coming every day with a positive attitude, trying to become better, prepare myself as if I was going to play and luckily I didn’t have any symptoms and I can play. I just prepare to control everything I can control and, fortunately, we are where we are now. “
Against Bills in Week 6, Mahomes pitched for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The Chiefs dominated the racing game, running 245 yards as a team. But Mahomes told reporters that he thought they were more than capable then – and now.
“I mean, even when we faced them in Week 6, they were a really good football team and continued to improve each week,” he said. “When you are at this point in the season, you are playing great football teams and they have great players at all levels of their defense. Obviously, they have a tremendous attack and we expect them to be aggressive as they have been playing for the past few weeks, so we will be prepared for whatever they show us and try to neutralize it with our best foot forward and try to find a way to win a game of football. “