After Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain, all eyes were on the quarterback during the AFC Championship game to see how he would hold up after the injury. His trainer, Julie Frymyer, was looking closely at how Mahomes moved during the game and was pleased with how he performed.
Mahomes credited Frymyer with getting him on the field, saying, "Julie WAS the reason i was the guy i was on the field today! It takes everyone but she lead the charge all week!!! Now let's get Super Bowl ready!!"
Julie WAS the reason i was the guy i was on the field today! It takes everyone but she lead the charge all week!!! Now let’s get Super Bowl ready!! https://t.co/glPKlL9Qz3
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 30, 2023
On Super Bowl Opening Night, Frymyer commented on the shoutout from No. 15 and explained what she saw from Mahomes' ankle during the game.
"I very much appreciate that he did it," Frymyer said (via NFL.com). "But the biggest highlight I could ever have was his scramble on that third down and getting us into the Super Bowl. I don't need all of that as long as he's able to go out there and do what he needs to do. That's more than I would ever need."
In the last minute of the AFC Championship win against the Cincinnati Bengals, Mahomes ran for nine yards. Watching with her expertise on the situation, this was a clear highlight for his trainers and medical staff.
Mahomes says his ankle will "definitely be in a better spot" than it was in the AFC Championship, but according to Frymyer it will not be at 100 percent. She said his progress can be seen, but the healing process is lengthy.
"He's made progress every day," Frymyer said. "High ankle sprains can take a while to come back. So his tissue is not completely healed but he's better than he was for sure. Every day he's making progress, every day he's feeling better and more normal. You can see it on the football field."
When she first saw the Mahomes' injury, Frymyer said her initial reaction was, "What are we going to do, we have this much time."
Mahomes was not in a boot following the injury because the training staff tries to avoid putting someone in a walking cast. Mahomes did not have much swelling, as Frymyer said is typical with the injury.
"If someone has to, we'll give them a boot," she said. "But the big thing is, if someone can walk with a normal gait pattern, we want them to do that. If they're limping and not able to use their normal gait then we'll give them a boot. We don't want to get into hip, knee problems."
Frymyer said Mahomes is committed to being the best he can be and after his injury, treatment was worked into his already packed schedule. Mahomes will obviously do anything he can to be in the best shape possible for the playoffs and that was apparent with his dedication to the rehabilitation.
"He comes in at 6 a.m. and he won't leave until 6:30 p.m.," she said. "A lot of hours. He's in meetings a lot of the time, so he would come in super early, we had to capitalize on the time he had. I'd take some of it up to his QB meeting room so we could keep treating him around the clock. Obviously, we had practice then and getting him back in after, getting him in for treatment, then getting rehab in as well."
As if we needed confirmation that Mahomes' will to play trumps all else, Frymyer said the Super Bowl champion's mindset was always on playing.
"With Patrick, he's got the mentality you know he's going to play if he can play," she said. "So we're doing everything we can to put him in the best position. He attacks rehab and treatment just like he attacks everything with football. We knew he had a shot."
Mahomes went down with the injury just over three weeks ago during the divisional game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
