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Week 15 was disastrous for the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only were the reigning AFC champions officially eliminated from playoff contention, but star quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL. This is the first major injury of Mahomes' NFL career, and he faces a rehab that will take up the entire offseason.

Mahomes is hardly the first quarterback to tear his ACL. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray tore his ACL in 2022, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow tore his as a rookie back in 2020, and Tom Brady tore his in the 2008 season opener. In fact, Mahomes and Brady both tore the ACL in their left knee during their ninth NFL season. 

During a recent taping of the "Let's Go!" podcast, Brady spoke about the rehab process and why it's "a hard psychological thing to battle."

"It's a tough rehab," Brady said. "It's one of the toughest rehabs. I just remember every day pushing myself. And it's always the same amount of pain and discomfort except you're making progress through that pain and discomfort, which is a hard psychological thing to battle. You feel like, God, every day, it doesn't feel right. Except you're gaining range of motion and you're gaining strength and you are on the road to recovery. So I wish him the very best."

The host of the podcast, Jim Gray, then asked Brady what he would tell Mahomes if he could offer any advice about coming back from a torn ACL. The NFL legend said it's all about attacking the process.

"The only thing you can do is focus on what's ahead of you and not look back," Brady said. "And just say, 'OK, this is part of what my career is going to be and a lot of people have gone through it and a lot of people have overcome it.' You've just got to put as much diligence into the rehab process. And I always feel like the faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that you love.

"I think sometimes people will pace themselves. Instead of training mode, they're in rehab mode. I think you gotta get through rehab mode as fast as possible and then you get back to training mode. But that requires an all-out commitment and it's the same commitment that the great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. When you go through the rehab process, you need that same level of focus and determination."

When Brady returned to the field in 2009, he led the New England Patriots to the playoffs with a 10-6 record, and won Comeback Player of the Year. It's safe to say the 2008 knee injury didn't hold him back, as Brady would go on to win four more Super Bowls and play until he was 45 years old.

As two of the best quarterbacks of this generation, Mahomes and Brady have been compared every which way over the last nine years, and how both successfully recovered from torn ACLs could be another bullet point in the conversation. Mahomes has already publicly vowed to attack each day "over and over again."

"Don't know why this had to happen," Mahomes said on social media. "And not going to lie, it's 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."