Quarterback Patrick Mahomes attends Texas Tech's NFL football pro day last month in Lubbock, Tex.Annie Rice/The Associated Press
Patrick Mahomes was present for the start of Kansas City’s off-season program Monday, another important milestone as the two-time NFL MVP tries to recover from torn knee ligaments in time for the beginning of next season.
Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14 in the final minutes of a loss to the Chargers, which effectively eliminated his team from playoff contention. Mahomes soon had surgery in Dallas with noted orthopedist Dr. Dan Cooper, and the rehabilitation began almost immediately back in Kansas City, where he has been working all off-season.
“So he goes to the meetings. He can lift, do all that. Rehab. That’s the phase he’s in right now,” coach Andy Reid said. “We’ll just see. Kind of play it by ear. See where he’s at. He’s doing great, but we’ve just got to be smart with this thing.”
Mahomes previously told local reporters that “that’s the goal, to play Week 1 and have no restrictions.”
The first phase of the voluntary off-season program is limited to strength and conditioning, team meetings and rehab work, and it began Monday for a two-week period. The last few years, the team has allowed Mahomes to conduct players-only workouts at his home in Texas, but that changed this year since he stayed in Kansas City to work with the team’s own training staff.
Then comes the second phase of the off-season program: three weeks of on-field work at a walkthrough pace and with no live contact, which means Mahomes should be able to take part in some of the work without having to risk hurting his knee again.
The third phase is organized team activities, where the offence can face the defence but there is still no live contact. K.C. has scheduled six of those workouts from May 26-28 and June 1-3 ahead of their mandatory minicamp on June 9-11.
The schedule is a little different from other years because Arrowhead Stadium will be hosting World Cup matches in June.
The full NFL schedule is expected to be announced in mid-May. The opening game is expected to be Sept. 10, which means Kansas City could play its opener a few days later – about nine months after Mahomes sustained his injury.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) runs the ball while being chased by Indianapolis Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis (94) during a game late last season in Kansas City, Mo.Reed Hoffmann/The Associated Press
“Knowing me, I’m going to push it to the exact limit every single day,” Mahomes said of his rehabilitation effort. “There’s places you can’t go yet. You want to but you can’t go yet. And they’re doing it for a reason.”
The team last month added some insurance should Mahomes need a couple of extra weeks, sending the New York Jets a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft for Justin Fields. The club also picked up US$7-million of his guaranteed US$10-million salary.
The 27-year-old Fields signed a two-year, US$40-million deal – with US$30-million guaranteed – with the Jets last March, and he was the starter for most of the season until getting benched in favour of Tyrod Taylor in Week 12. He didn’t play another game for the Jets, ending the season by being placed on injured reserve in late December with a knee injury.
Still, Fields is an experienced starter in the NFL, and he is expected to at least give Kansas City a chance to win should he need to start any games.
“We’ve had this extended off-season and we’ve been able to really dive in there and really work with the plan for this coming season,” Reid said. “We think we’ve got good direction in which we’re going, and we’ll see how it all formulates by the time we get out of these OTAs and into camp, and then out of camp and into the season.”