Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes practiced as usual Wednesday and plans to be ready for this weekend's game against the Broncos, two days after tweaking his left ankle while throwing a touchdown pass in a win over the Buccaneers.
Mahomes was rolling to his right and thinking about running for a first down as the Chiefs were trying to rally in the second half against Tampa Bay on Monday night. He suddenly saw Samaje Perine coming open and flicked a pass to him in the end zone, just as his ankle caught in the soggy turf of Arrowhead Stadium and sent a sharp pain rocketing through it.
Mahomes lay on the sideline for a moment before he was helped partway across the field, then trotted without any assistance the rest of the way to the Kansas City sideline. He was examined there but did not miss a play, eventually helping the Chiefs to another touchdown in regulation and the winning drive in overtime for a 30-24 victory over the Bucs.
“It's doing good," Mahomes said of his ankle Wednesday. "Obviously went on a little bit of a roll. It's a little sore. But I'm able to move around and looking forward to getting out in practice and seeing how I can push it as the week goes on.”
Mahomes has plenty of experience nursing ankle injuries.
The most high-profile one occurred during the playoffs two seasons ago, and he needed every bit of help recovering in time to face the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Mahomes tweaked it again in the first half but returned to lead the Chiefs to victory.
“We won't have to back off,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the two-time NFL MVP. “He manages it. He stays on top of it.”
That process began immediately after Monday night's game, then continued at home — every day made more important by the fact that Kansas City is facing the Broncos on a short week Sunday. Mahomes was in the practice facility early Tuesday to watch game film and get additional treatment, and he was ready for the first practice of the week Wednesday.
“You can only do so much,” Mahomes said. “It was pretty late getting some stuff in the training room after the game, getting some stuff to take home. Stuff you can put on overnight to reduce swelling. You come in early in the morning — it was a long day of watching film and getting treatment, and preparing yourself for a short week.”
In other injury news, Reid said wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster still would not practice as he nurses a hamstring injury that has kept him out of most of the past three games. Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton also was out with a bruised knee.
Reid also had no update on Charles Omenihu and Isiah Pacheco, both of whom the Chiefs hope to get back for the stretch run.
Omenihu tore the ACL in his right knee in their AFC title win over Baltimore and had surgery in February, and he has spent the entire season on the physically unable-to-perform list. Pacheco has been out since Week 2, when he fractured his fibula in a win over Cincinnati and landed on injured reserve following surgery.
The Chiefs have been able to overcome a host of injuries — including devastating ones to Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown that thinned out their wide receiver corps — by making some savvy moves in the front office.
Kansas City traded for Patriots defensive end Joshua Uche just before the deadline, and he made his debut as a pass-rushing specialist in Monday night's win over the Buccaneers. The Chiefs also signed Kareem Hunt after Pacheco's injury, and their one-time star has delivered: He has logged at least 21 carries in each of the last four games, scoring touchdowns in all of them, and has twice eclipsed 100 yards, including the winning two-yard TD plunge in overtime against Tampa Bay.
Perhaps none of the moves has been as high-profile as the Chiefs' trade with Tennessee for DeAndre Hopkins, though.
The three-time All-Pro wide receiver practiced just two days before playing a limited role in a win in Las Vegas. Then, he logged a full week of work and showed out Monday night, catching eight passes for 86 yards and two scores against the Bucs.
“You just continue to get him more and more comfortable in the offense,” Mahomes said. “We move him around and let him do what he's special at, and that's catching the football and winning those one-on-one matchups.”
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