As rumored earlier this week, quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived at Kansas City Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph on Friday fully cleared to practice. The incredible news comes seven months after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee.
Mahomes suffered the injury in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 14 and had surgery in Dallas the next day with Dr. Daniel Cooper, who repaired both ligaments. The typical recovery timeline for that injury can run closer to nine months, which made his availability for the first day of camp far from a given.
Mahomes met with reporters Friday and laid out what the clearance does and doesn't mean.
"Yeah, it's just a lot of hard work, day to day just continuing to do it over and over again," Mahomes said. "It was always the goal to be able to practice when we got to training camp and so we've kinda hit that next step and now it's gonna be about building and keep getting better and better so that when the regular season comes around, I can try to be available and ready to play."
Mahomes also admitted that he only just received confirmation that he'd be cleared for practice. Asked when he knew for sure, Mahomes said, "Like two days ago."
"Just another checkpoint" for Mahomes
Mahomes described his return as a series of benchmarks he'd been tracking all offseason long, with Friday marking the latest rather than any sort of finish line.
"It's kinda just always been the plan. You just look at the dates and there were certain checkpoints you have to get to and this is just another checkpoint on the schedule, you know?" Mahomes said. "You have to continue to work. It's not like it's over and I'm just going to be able to play a game tomorrow. You've got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice. And you have to prove to the doctors, prove to the coaches, prove to everybody that I'm the same quarterback I was before, if not better. I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games."
Mahomes won't take contact in these practices, but he said getting back to running the offense with bodies around him still counts as progress. "I don't get hit, so that's one part of it," Mahomes said. "But it's still good to be out there and have bodies around and be able to go through and run the offense."
The brace and the mental side
Mahomes will start Chiefs' camp in a knee brace, though he framed it as a matter of comfort rather than as a requirement. He wore one during his college days at Texas Tech and plans to lean on that familiarity early.
"There isn't really a plan with [the brace]. I'm gonna start off with it just because I've worn it before and I feel comfortable with it," Mahomes said. "That's where we'll start, but it's not that I've been told I have to wear it or how long I have to wear it. It's just going to be my [comfort level], how I feel, but I will start with it on because I feel like I can still move and be myself with it. I played with it in college, and then we'll see where we go from there."
When asked about the mental challenge of coming back and any worries there, he referred back to a dislocated kneecap suffered in 2019 and the lengths he went to in a memorable game against Tennessee.
"What I think of most is when I dislocated my knee. We played in that Titans game a few weeks later and I felt healthy and everything like that and I have that throw when I jump and throw the ball. It looked cool, but I was actually just trying to get my knee out of there," Mahomes said.
"Just little things like that. You just have to build that confidence back, but like I said, I'm glad I get to do that from day one of training camp. I'm glad I didn't have to only get a couple of weeks of practice in and then go play in a game. How training camp goes is we gradually build, so I think that will gradually help me get back to where I need to be."
Mahomes' preseason demands are still undecided
Whether Mahomes plays in any preseason games remains open, and he said that decision rests with the coaching and medical staffs.
"I think we'll just see when we get there. I'm a competitor, so game day, I'm going to want to be out there. But I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important," Mahomes said. "But we will see. The coaches and the docs will make that decision for me, but I'll prepare myself like I'm going to play, and then if I'm just doing a very hard warm-up, I'll take that as seriously as playing in a preseason game."
The Chiefs' first open training camp practice begins on July 29 for season ticket holders only. The first game will be held at Arrowhead Stadium on August 15 against the visiting L.A. Rams. By that point, Mahomes and the rest of us will have a lot more insight into how his knee is holding up.
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