Adam Schefter shares warning about Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes amid recovery updates

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed that there is a "realistic chance" that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will start Kansas City's Week 1 "Monday Night Football" home game versus the rival Denver Broncos on Sept. 14. 

Understandably, such updates regarding Mahomes' recovery from the torn ACL and torn LCL he suffered on Dec. 14 of last year have excited Chiefs fans and certain fantasy football players. However, Schefter noted during a Monday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" that the Mahomes who plays against Denver in September may not be the version of the three-time Super Bowl MVP the football community is used to seeing on gamedays. 

Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes will need "adjustment" after serious injury

"Is he gonna be 80 percent? 90 percent? 100 percent? Like, that's hard to imagine that he could just step in there right away after such a significant knee injury and pick up right where he left off and be as great as he's always been," Schefter said about Mahomes, as shared by Ed Easton Jr. of Chiefs Wire. "I just think there's gonna be a little bit of an adjustment to what he's come back from, which is significant."

Part of that adjustment could involve Mahomes handing the ball off early and often to running back, free-agency signing and Super Bowl LX Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker III. ESPN stats show that Walker led the Seattle Seahawks for the 2025 regular season with 221 carries and 1,027 rushing yards. 

Chiefs, fans should be realistic about what Patrick Mahomes will be this September

"Everybody wants him back on opening night," Schefter added. "Everybody wants him to be Patrick Mahomes. I think expectations need to be tempered a little bit. ...It's a significant knee injury that he's bouncing back from. That's all."

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid seems to understand the reality of the situation, as he said last week that the club is taking things "day by day" as it pertains to Mahomes' recovery. Comments from Reid and Schefter could lead one to believe that the Chiefs think that Mahomes won't be back to his old self the next time the 30-year-old takes the field for a meaningful game.