KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes joined his Kansas City Chiefs teammates Monday for the beginning of their voluntary offseason training program, marking another significant step in his recovery from December knee surgery.
The star quarterback suffered ACL and LCL tears in his left knee during the closing moments of a December 14 defeat against the Los Angeles Chargers, a loss that ended Kansas City’s playoff hopes for the season. Following the injury, Mahomes underwent surgical repair in Dallas under the care of renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dan Cooper before returning to Kansas City to begin an intensive rehabilitation process.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid outlined Mahomes’ current activities during this recovery phase. “So he goes to the meetings. He can lift, do all that. Rehab. That’s the phase he’s in right now,” Reid explained. “We’ll just see. Kind of play it by ear. See where he’s at. He’s doing great, but we’ve just got to be smart with this thing.”
When speaking with area media previously, Mahomes expressed optimism about his timeline, stating “that’s the goal, to play Week 1 and have no restrictions.”
The initial two-week phase of Kansas City’s voluntary program focuses on conditioning work, team meetings, and rehabilitation activities that began Monday. Unlike recent years when Mahomes conducted player workouts at his Texas residence, he remained in Kansas City this offseason to work directly with the team’s medical and training personnel.
The program’s second phase will feature three weeks of field-based activities conducted at walking speed without contact, allowing Mahomes to participate in certain drills while protecting his healing knee from additional injury risk.
Phase three consists of organized team activities where offensive and defensive units practice together without live contact. Kansas City has planned six such sessions scheduled for May 26-28 and June 1-3, leading up to mandatory minicamp from June 9-11.
This year’s schedule differs from previous seasons due to Arrowhead Stadium hosting World Cup soccer matches in June.
The complete NFL schedule release is anticipated in mid-May, with the season opener expected around September 10. This timeline would put Mahomes’ potential return approximately nine months following his injury.
Discussing his rehabilitation approach, Mahomes acknowledged his competitive nature. “Knowing me, I’m going to push it to the exact limit every single day,” he said. “There’s places you can’t go yet. You want to but you can’t go yet. And they’re doing it for a reason.”
As a precautionary measure, Kansas City acquired quarterback Justin Fields from the New York Jets last month, trading a sixth-round draft selection while assuming $7 million of his $10 million guaranteed contract.
Fields, 27, had signed a two-year, $40 million contract with $30 million guaranteed with New York last March. He started most of the season before being replaced by Tyrod Taylor in Week 12, finishing the campaign on injured reserve with his own knee injury in late December.
Despite his struggles with the Jets, Fields brings NFL starting experience that could provide Kansas City with a viable option if needed.
Reid expressed confidence in the team’s preparation during this extended offseason period. “We’ve had this extended offseason and we’ve been able to really dive in there and really work with the plan for this coming season,” the coach said. “We think we’ve got good direction in which we’re going, and we’ll see how it all formulates by the time we get out of these OTAs and into camp, and then out of camp and into the season.”
