Latest from Patrick Mahomes on his ankle | KCSN Daily 1.26
Plus latest injury report, KCSN podcasts, quotes and more Chiefs news.
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Cyborg - “A human being whose original human parts have had to be replaced to one extent or another by machines that perform the same functions.”
“Gentleman, we can rebuild him, we have the technology.”
That’s the intro to the 1973 series “The Six Million Dollar Man” — yet it seems extraordinary relevant to the emotions everyone is feeling about Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. He must be bionic, right? For the second consecutive day, Mahomes practiced in full on his high ankle sprain.
“I thought I had a good day yesterday,” Mahomes told reporters Thursday afternoon. “Obviously, there’s things you’ve got to work through here and there. But overall, it was probably better than I expected, being able to go out there and throw the football around and get the reps in that I needed to get in.”
It defies all logic and anything you’ve ever been told about these types of injuries. Part of it is competitive drive and sheer willpower, but Mahomes also credited those around him for putting him in a position to prevent this injury from being as serious as it could be.
“I have a lot of good people around me everywhere,” Mahomes said. “If you talk about the training staff here, you talk about the weight staff here and then you talk about (personal trainer) Bobby (Stroupe). We do a lot of things – kind of preventative stuff. You can’t prevent all injuries, but you can prepare your body the best way possible so that whenever stuff like this last game happens, you’re able to bounce back quickly. We’ve done a lot of ankle and knee and foot stuff, especially after the last few injuries I’ve had. I think that’s prepared me to bounce back quickly here and be able to be in a good spot so that hopefully I’m able to go out there and give 100 percent during the game.”
Right now, it’s all about taking steps forward and no steps back. Mahomes feels like he’s been making improvements every day so far, but at the same time has pushed and tested his limits.
“Yeah, it’s kind of throughout the day, you have highs and lows I guess you would say,” Mahomes explained. “You get yourself ready to go for practice, you practice as hard as you can. Then after, you’re obviously a little bit sorer than you we’re before, you work on it and do you your treatment and stuff after to get in the best shape for whenever you go to sleep. Then you wake up and do it all over again. I think progressively I’ve gotten better throughout the week and I’m just going to try to keep doing that, keep that same mentality and push it, but then at the same time be ready to go whenever the game comes up.”
We’ve still got to get to the game and see what transpires then, but for now you can’t help but be optimistic about the health of the star quarterback.
The Breakdown - Breaking down Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ performance following his ankle injury:
Former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel and FanDuel TV's Matt Hamilton breakdown Patrick Mahomes' performance after his ankle injury vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round and look ahead to their matchup vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game.
Thursday Injury Report:
Chiefs:
DNP: None.
LP: WR Mecole Hardman (Pelvis).
FP: QB Patrick Mahomes (Ankle), LB Willie Gay Jr. (Toe), and RB Jerick McKinnon (Ankle).
Bengals
DNP: G Alex Cappa (Ankle) and OT Jonah Williams (Knee).
LP: LB Joe Bachie (Foot) and TE Hayden Hurst (Calf).
FP: C Ted Karras (Knee), DT D.J. Reader (NIR - Rest), CB Tre Flowers (Hamstring), and DE Sam Hubbard (NIR - Rest).
Key:
DNP (Did Not Participate), LP (Limited Participant), FP (Full Participant), NIR (Not Injury Related).
Notes:
The Chiefs are not required to report the practice status of Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Jody Fortson until they’ve been activated to the 53-man roster.
Outside the Trenches - Is Chiefs AFC Championship vs. Bengals a Chris Jones legacy game?
KCSN’s BJ Kissel, Nick Leckey, and Tucker Franklin discuss the mid-week storylines surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs AFC Championship game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals ahead of the game on Sunday.
Want to know more about a wrinkle that Steve Spagnuolo has added to the defense late in the season? Pick up a paid subscription below to get access to exclusive content for KCSN subscribers.
(Photo via NFL)
Remember, vote for Kansas City Chiefs 2022 NFL Fan of the Year Nominee Dr. Amy Patel. You can vote multiple times until polls close on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Click the image above to listen to KCSN’s BJ Kissel exclusive interview with Dr. Patel.
KCSN Update:
KCSN’s Tucker Franklin sits down with Kent Swanson to talk about three takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday press conferences ahead of their meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Quotable:
“Passion…I got ‘little-man syndrome’ (laughter). Yeah, I got little-man syndrome, so I don’t know, maybe that’s what it is. And then like I was saying to someone earlier, it was something that I’ve never done in college, so obviously coming to the league, it being new and something I had to work at. (I) accepted the challenge and it has gotten me this far and (it’s) something that going to keep you around as a running back in this league. So, I take big pride in that area – more than running and catching the ball – for real.” - Jerick McKinnon on his passion for pass-blocking
“Well I’m not going to go that far because I’d be insulting the guys that we had before, and I love those guys. Our young guys are growing, hopefully they’ve grown enough that we can match what they’re going to put out there. This is an elite group we’re going against. We’ve got to have an elite game. We’ve got to play our best game of the year for our team to have a chance. We’re excited about the challenge. There isn’t one guy there in the defensive locker room that isn’t excited to do it. And we have played them before, so we know them a little bit and we certainly know what they’re capable of and again I go back to – they’re so explosive. And when you let them get those one-two-three explosive plays, they turn into touchdowns, and it makes for a long day, and I think that’s where the eyes come in.” - Steve Spagnuolo on whether Chiefs’ coverage has improved since last year’s AFC title game
Quick Hits:
From HisDirkness: Some interesting numbers surrounding the Chiefs’ losses to the Bengals from the AHPKC crew.
From GMFB: Former Chiefs RT Mitchell Schwartz appeared on Good Morning Football to talk trenches in the AFC Championship Game.
From the practice field: We’ve got another look at Patrick Mahomes at practice today going through some individual drills. Videos below courtesy of NFL Network’s James Palmer.
From the locker room: Bulletin-board material from Willie Gay Jr. or not? I tend to lean no, but what do you guys think?
NFL championship round schedule:
Sunday, Jan. 29 at 3:00 p.m. ET - Eagles vs. 49ers - NFC Championship Game
Sunday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Chiefs vs. Bengals - AFC Championship Game
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