Kansas City Chiefs fans everywhere collectively held their breath when quarterback Patrick Mahomes appeared to go down, aggravating a previous high ankle sprain injury, while facing the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. Mahomes was visibly in pain getting up from the third-down play, and whether he would be able to return was unknown.
Mahomes injured his ankle during the divisional game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and seemed to re-aggravate the injury during the biggest game of the year. However, any doubts of whether the league MVP could return and compete at the highest level were erased when Mahomes came out in the second half and led a comeback, defeating the Eagles 38-35.
In February, Mahomes noted that he would still have to rehab ahead of the 2023 season, but had no plans of letting it stop him from team activities. Months later, Mahomes is feeling much better about the ankle.
"It feels great," Mahomes said Tuesday, as quarterbacks and rookies reported to Chiefs training camp. "I think even going into OTAs a little bit, I still was a little timid about running and cutting and doing stuff like that. But when I got closer to vet minicamp and the later OTA stage, I got that confidence back in my ankle."
Mahomes and the team are still being cautious and realistic about what he can do, and some activities will be limited early on so there is no further damage.
"I'm sure I'm not going to be running a lot right now," Mahomes said. "But we'll be testing it, especially in these half-gassers. So I'll make sure that it's ready to go. And I think I'm in a good spot with it."
Mahomes and Co. open the season with a banner ceremony at Arrowhead Stadium against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7
