Patrick Mahomes is focused on injury prevention in offseason
By Matt Conner
Patrick Mahomes says his offseason workout focus is on injury prevention right now on his knee and ankle.
The first full season of Patrick Mahomes under center for the Kansas City Chiefs showed off his seemingly superhuman talents. His second season as the starting quarterback reminded us that he’s still human after all—at least when it comes to being mortal.
The Chiefs quarterback ultimately enjoyed a thrilling season in 2019, capped by a Super Bowl victory and MVP honors in the biggest game in sports. However, it also came with a midseason scare that featured a dislocated kneecap for Mahomes. That’s after Mahomes was already hobbling from a sore ankle that kept getting injured in the season’s first half, and that doesn’t include the game where he injured his throwing hand as well.
The number of injury-related setbacks in 2019 is why Mahomes says he’s been focusing on “injury prevention” early in his offseason training. There’s plenty of time for working on technique refinement, film study, etc. Mahomes recently spoke on Sirius XM about getting his body in the right place.
“These first few weeks, I’ve really been building the injury prevention stuff—the stuff that I dealt with the ankle and the knee,” said Mahomes. “I’ve really been getting after that and trying to make sure that I can be 100 percent going into this next season or 120 percent and ready to take on the impact of another entire football season.
“As of right now it’s about my body and getting myself in the best shape possible. As I get onto it and I start working with my quarterback coach and quarterback drills, I’ll work on my footwork and work on that stuff where I can be better from the pocket and keep getting better, ’cause that’s an area that I still need to improve on. If I get better there, I can extend the plays as a bonus.”
Recently, Mahomes posted a few shots of his workout routine on Instagram, reminding us all that, for him, the time for celebrating the Super Bowl has passed and he’s back to work to add another run at a title to his resume.
The idea of Mahomes topping what he’s already done seems a bit ridiculous given that he’s already set myriad milestones during his first two years in the league, including a Lombardi Trophy and MVP award. Then again, no one saw these first two seasons coming. If Mahomes can stay healthy and continue to improve, the Chiefs might have to get used to hosting another parade or three.