The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that quarterback Patrick Mahomes has undergone successful surgery to repair his season-ending knee injury.
Of course, we know Mahomes tore his ACL in the Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and that is not only going to end his season, but it threatens his availability for the start of the 2026 campaign, also.
"Patrick Mahomes successfully underwent surgery in Dallas this evening with Dr. Dan Cooper to repair the tear in his left ACL," the Chiefs said in a statement. "Mahomes will begin his rehab process immediately."
Mahomes didn't just tear his ACL, though. As NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports, the superstar quarterback also damaged his LCL with the injury.
"More context: Patrick Mahomes also tore his LCL, along with his ACL, sources say," Rapoport said.
Will this extend Mahomes' recovery timeline?
The fear now is that Mahomes' recovery timeline, which stands to be about nine months with just a torn ACL, will be longer.
However, Rapoport added that while the torn LCL "can complicate recovery, it doesn’t necessary extend his rehab longer than 9 months or so."
That's certainly good news, but it does add a little more angst to his recovery, which might keep Mahomes out until late September 2026 based on the nine-month recovery timeline. The 2026 season starts on Sept. 10.
The Chiefs and Mahomes are wasting no time getting to work, though.
It's pretty rare to see a player undergo that surgery so quickly after the injury, and as the Chiefs put it, Mahomes' rehab process will begin "immediately."
We definitely would not rule out Mahomes recovering quicker than expected with how hard he works and with how much better these types of surgeries have gotten over the years, but for now he's in serious doubt for Week 1 of next season.
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