Mahomes Details Heartbreaking Moments After Injury

Changing mindset from returning immediately to returning in nine months

Talk about an emotional roller coaster. Trailing the Chargers, 16-13, Mahomes had the Chiefs at the Los Angeles 46-yard line, a first-and-10 and the two-minute warning. Flushed out of the pocket, he rolled to his right with Da’Shawn Hand breathing down his neck. Even if he’d completed the pass after coming down awkwardly on his left knee, his young offensive tackle Chu Godrick was called for offensive holding.

But that penalty flag quickly became an afterthought as medical personnel tended to Mahomes on the Chiefs’ sideline. After he hobbled to the locker room, he took a ride across the parking lot to the team’s University of Kansas Health System Training Facility.

“And then I was able to get the results from the MRI,” Mahomes said, “which is hard. But at the same time, you got to kind of flip the script fast, knowing that it’s going to take a quick turnaround to get to this season.”

Avoiding further damage, longer comeback

Even had Mahomes persuaded the Chiefs to brace him up and return in those final two minutes, and even had he pushed the game to overtime and kept alive Kansas City’s playoff quest, the aftermath would’ve been brutal.

The postgame MRI would’ve still revealed the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee, he would’ve still been placed on injured reserve and, even worse, had Mahomes returned, he might’ve caused more damage to the knee and prolonged his 2026 return. Gardner Minshew still would’ve started the following week.

Mahomes underwent surgery the following day and the Chiefs clearly got the best-case scenario, despite the difficult circumstances.

“And so now, it's just motivating,” Mahomes said Thursday, “trying to push myself to, like I said, do the most as I can, as much as they’ll let me push myself to be ready for next year.”

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