Patrick Mahomes Day-To-Day With Elbow Injury

The Chiefs held a slim 14-12 lead at halftime, but they rolled the Jets in the second half en route to a 35-12 win. While Mahomes finished the day 23 of 31 for 242 yards and two touchdowns, the 31-year-old had to undergo an MRI on his elbow after the game. It was found that Mahomes ducked a major injury, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Sunday night.

In an update on Monday, head coach Andy Reid told Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star and other reporters that Mahomes is “day-to-day” and added: “It was more positive news than negative news. It looks like it’s just a matter of rehabbing and getting rid of some of the soreness.”

That’s an enormous relief for the Chiefs, who saw Mahomes go down with season-ending ACL and LCL tears last December. To add insult to injury, the Chiefs lost to the Chargers that day and were eliminated from playoff contention. That ended a 10-year postseason streak for Kansas City, but the team has quickly returned to contention this year.

After making a smooth recovery from his knee injury in the offseason, Mahomes returned in time for Week 1 and has helped the Chiefs to a 6-2 start. They are holding a wild-card spot and are right on the heels of the 7-2 Broncos for first place in the AFC West, though another significant injury to Mahomes would have jeopardized their postseason chances.

Fortunately for the Chiefs, it appears Mahomes is on track to start in Atlanta on Sunday. In the event he misses the game, Justin Fields and Garrett Nussmeier are the Chiefs’ only other in-house choices at the position. The Bears took Fields 11th overall in the 2021 draft, but he has struggled across 53 starts and is already on his fourth team in six years. Meanwhile, Nussmeier is a rookie seventh-rounder with no regular-season experience.