Patrick Mahomes wasn't himself for the majority of the Kansas City Chiefs' win over the New England Patriots Sunday, injuring his throwing hand in the first half of the victory. Mahomes still completed 26 of 40 passes for 283 yards with a touchdown and interception, but questions lingered on that status of his hand after the game.
Naturally, Mahomes downplayed the injury, even though head coach Andy Reid admitted the team's franchise quarterback will be getting an X-ray on the hand. That X-ray came back negative, per NFL Network, but the Chiefs will have Mahomes take more tests Monday to make sure there's no significant damage on the hand.
"It doesn't feel great right now but it's something that you play with," Mahomes said in his postgame press conference. "In this sport, you're going to get hurt, you're going to bang something. So for me, it's about going out there and competing and relying on my teammates to help me out whenever I'm not feeling 100 percent."
Mahomes averaged 6.6 yards per attempt in the game, well below the 8.3 average this season. The Chiefs lost the big play portion of their offense with Mahomes battling through the injured hand, which clearly affected his ability to throw the ball downfield.
"They gave me the good-to-go and so I went out there, battled, figured out ways to throw the ball across the middle and maybe not shoot those long shots that I usually throw," Mahomes said. "But enough to get them back and still score touchdowns."
Mahomes, who already missed two games with a knee injury this season, has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,266 yards, 21 touchdowns and three interceptions for a 105.3 passer rating in 11 games. The Chiefs are going to take every precautionary measure with their franchise quarterback as the playoffs are on the horizon, especially in a wide-open AFC where their Super Bowl chances have significantly improved over the past few weeks.
"We think it's OK, but we'll see how it goes," said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid after the game. "It was hard for him to grip the ball and do the things that he needed to do there. But he powered through it, didn't say much—that's how he is."
