It's never good news when a team's starting quarterback goes down with a season-ending injury but it was truly dreadful news for the Kansas City Chiefs when that very situation happened to Patrick Mahomes this past year. With the injury occuring so late in the season, questions naturally popped up surrounding Mahomes' health for the 2026 season. Would he be able to play in the first few weeks or months?
Well, according to James Palmer of Bleacher Report, things are trending in a positive direction. During his weekly show through Bleacher Report, Palmer gave a lengthy update about Mahomes' recovery and it's exactly what Chiefs fans want to hear.
"I think all sides are pointing to a very, very good recovery with Patrick Mahomes right now.
He is ahead of schedule in a lot of people's minds. I know it's a long recovery, so you don't want to, like, gauge that because it goes and, you know, ebbs and flows. But this is all pointing towards him playing in Week 1. I think it really is, from everybody I've talked to. It's not going to be rushed. There's still a lot of time between now and then, but that's where things see right now."
James Palmer says Patrick Mahomes is on track to play Week 1
This would obviously be massive for the Chiefs. The team traded a sixth-round pick for Justin Fields likely just in case Mahomes wasn't ready to play right away but it's sounding like Fields might end up being more of an insurance policy in Kansas City.
It still wouldn't be surprising if the schedule-makers opted not to put the Chiefs in primetime early in the season to avoid a possibility of Mahomes not being on the field. This could mean that the Chiefs play a lot of primetime games in the back half of the season instead. But, with these positive updates continuing to trickle in, maybe that changes.
It's good to see Mahomes' recovery going well and hopefully, he's healthy enough to start Week 1 and help lead the Chiefs all the way to a Super Bowl win.
Add us as a preferred source on Google