On Monday morning, on the heels of a playoff-opening win over the Cleveland Browns and another AFC Championship on the horizon, Chiefs Kingdom is only concerned about one thing when waking up: is Patrick Mahomes going be okay?
Less than 24 hours ago, Mahomes suffered an early toe injury in the first quarter in the Kansas City Chiefs win over the Browns in the Divisional Round. Then two quarters later, the Chiefs lost their quarterback for the game and potentially more to a head injury that placed him in the league’s concussion protocol. Just like that, the Chiefs looked like a mortal opponent whose postseason goals were on the ropes.
In the interim, the Chiefs defense held off the Browns’ defense and Chad Henne came up with some late heroics to ice the game on the Chiefs final drive. Moving forward, however, all eyes are on Mahomes to see how he is doing with his injury.
After the game, all reports have been positive. His fiancee Brittany Mathews tweeted that he was “fine” after the game, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also stated that he was “doing great.” Chad Henne noted that he will undergo further tests, so the Chiefs were hardly out of the woods, however. After all, the league’s concussion protocols can keep a player entangled for some time–as it should until a player is obviously healthy and safe.
However, Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer had the latest update on set and gave a very promising outlook on next week’s game for Mahomes.
"“The thought is that he will be okay. Right now, he’s in the concussion protocol. You see him having a hard time getting up and walking there. That’s more so because they are saying it was almost like he was choked out, which I know a thing or two about. Not so much a concussion but he still has to go through the concussion protocol. He was trying to get himself back in this game, though, so there’s a lot of confidence that he’ll be able to go next week.”"
With their win over the Browns, the Chiefs advanced to the AFC Championship—a game they will be hosting. Their opponent will be the visiting Buffalo Bills, who they already beat back in Week 6. However, the Bills have been red hot since that game with a lone loss to the Arizona Cardinals that came on a Hail Mary. It will be interesting to watch Josh Allen face off against Mahomes, if he is able to go. Either way, the Chiefs will have their hands full as they try to reach their second straight Super Bowl.