KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A day after the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee, coach Andy Reid shared that the MRI scan Sunday night revealed that the star quarterback didn’t have any major damage to other ligaments.
Reid also said that Mahomes is heading to Dallas to get a second opinion on his knee from Dr. Daniel Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys‘ head team physician. Mahomes is expected to have surgery later this week.
“He’ll attack it, just like he does everything else,” Reid said of Mahomes’ upcoming rehab. “There have been some pretty good quarterbacks who have had the same injury, and they’ve done pretty well after they came back. He’ll get after it, and he’s got good people here to rehab him. He’ll be right on top of all of that.
“As long as the surgery goes well, as expected, then I would expect a fairly quick recovery for him, just because of those factors.”
Mahomes sustained his injury with less than two minutes remaining in Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, a result that ended the Chiefs’ playoff hopes.
In an effort to rally the Chiefs, he scrambled out of the pocket, rolling to his right while he was chased down by defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. Once Mahomes planted his left foot and threw the ball away for an incompletion, his left knee buckled. After he fell to the turf, Mahomes immediately grabbed his left knee and winced in pain.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on social media. “And not going to lie, [it] hurts. But all we can do now is [trust] in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you, Chiefs kingdom, for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I [will] be back stronger than ever.”
Following his surgery, Mahomes will miss the team’s offseason program, and his availability for the start of next season is in question.
Mahomes, 30, had managed to stay free of long-term injuries during his NFL career. In 2019, while executing a quarterback sneak, he dislocated his right kneecap but missed just two games — the longest absence of his career — and later that season led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years. In the 2020 playoffs, Mahomes returned from a concussion and played through turf toe in his left foot, an injury that required surgery that offseason. And his most heroic moment playing through pain was in the 2022 postseason, when he led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory while dealing with a high right ankle sprain.
“I’ve had a good visit with him a couple different times,” Reid said of Mahomes’ reaction and attitude. “He’s in a good place. He feels like he let people down. He’s ready for the challenge ahead. He’s just got to get through surgery, wherever it might be. I know he’ll come out on the strong end of this.”
In the offseason, the Chiefs’ priority list will now have to include quarterback. The team doesn’t have another quarterback under contract for the 2026 season.
Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, a five-year veteran, is expected to be the team’s starter for the final three games of the regular season. That stretch will serve as an audition for Minshew to remain with the Chiefs for next season.
“I’ve got a ton of confidence in Gardner,” Reid said. “I’ve watched him play with other teams, he’s started in the league, and our guys have confidence in him.”
