KANSAS CITY, MON — Patrick Mahomes suffered a sprained right high ankle in the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff win over the Jaguars, a person familiar with the nature of the injury told The Associated Press on Sunday, but the All-Pro quarterback is expecting , to play next weekend’s AFC championship game.
Mahomes was injured late Saturday in the first quarter when a Jacksonville defender landed on him. X-rays taken during the game were negative, and Mahomes returned after halftime to lead Kansas City to a 27-20 win.
Mahomes underwent an MRI on Sunday that showed no structural damage, a person familiar with the results told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity as the team did not disclose the test results.
“I don’t want to jump into things now, but let’s see how things go here over the next few days,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Saturday night. “It’s going to hurt, I know, but let’s see where he stands. He’s had it before and he’s always come out on top, basically always against Jacksonville — same kind of deal a few years ago.
“The main thing is that he’s safe,” Reid said, “or as safe as you can be on a football field. That’s the most important.”
The Chiefs play the winner of Sunday’s game between Cincinnati and Buffalo. If it’s the Bengals, their rematch of last year’s AFC title game would be played at Arrowhead Stadium. If it’s the Bills, the game would be in Atlanta.
Mahomes said after Saturday night’s game that his ankle “feels better than I thought it would feel now”.
“Obviously, I’ve got a lot of adrenaline right now. We’ll see how it feels, but I’ll jump right into treatment tonight and try to do everything I can to be as close to 100% as possible by next week,” he said. “Luckily we played the early game on Saturday so we get almost half a day extra where I can rest that ankle.”
Still, high ankle sprains can be potentially serious injuries. Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffered one in late November and ended up on injured reserve, and only returned to practice last week.
“Pain is pain,” Mahomes said. “You’re going to have to deal with this.”
Mahomes missed most of the second quarter against the Jaguars but still threw for 195 yards and two points. The second of them was a throw at Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fourth quarter, which ultimately provided the winning margin.
While Mahomes was out, backup Chad Henne also led the Chiefs on a 12-play, 98-yard touchdown drive.
“I gotta tell you, 15 is tough to get back in,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “Even after the injury staying inside and passing the ball while basically limping on one leg. The guy – that just shows you his love of the game and his character and his will to just be out there for his team and do whatever it takes to help us win.”
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