The Kansas City Chiefs are set to take on the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon, less than a week after quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a “mild” high ankle sprain in the win over the Cleveland Browns. On a short week, and with a two-game cushion in the race for the top seed in the AFC playoffs, you’d think that it would be a no-brainer to sit Mahomes for at least this next game. Even if backup Carson Wentz can’t deliver a win, the Chiefs would still be in fine shape in the standings, and rushing him back risks a more significant injury that would short-circuit the team’s threepeat bid before it even got off the ground.
There’s just one problem with that plan, though: Mahomes himself. Competitor that he is, the two-time NFL MVP sure seems to be lobbying coach Andy Reid to let him play this weekend against Houston, arguing that he’s played through ankle injuries before. And now it’s apparently gotten to the point where his own coaching staff is going through the media in an effort to take at least one weekend off.
Chiefs OC Matt Nagy was asked about Mahomes’ status on Thursday afternoon, and while he didn’t have any concrete updates to offer, he did deliver a thinly veiled plea to his star QB.
“Just for him to be able to be honest with us as he goes through this,” Nagy said of Mahomes. “It’s all part of the game, we know he’s a tough kid, so we understand that, but at the same point in time, you want to be smart.”
“I think, you know – we know our schedule this week and (it’s) a little bit of a shorter week, so there’s a balance there to that, but so far, I think his mindset is to do everything (that) he can, but at the same time, you still have to be able to see how he does throughout the week.”
That definitely makes it sound as though Chiefs coaches are taking the long view here, understanding that one week won’t make or break Kansas City’s season. While offering an obligatory acknowledgment of Mahomes’ competitive spirit and desire to play, Nagy all but admits that if it were up to him, the QB would already be ruled out against Houston — making appeals to “being honest” and “being smart” and finding “a balance”.
In reality, there’s no way that Mahomes can be close to 100 percent less than a week after spraining his ankle. He knows it, and the Chiefs know it. The only question now is whether the team will be able to talk him down, or whether his (admirable!) insistence on taking the field each and every week will put everything in jeopardy.
