Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has started his rehabilitation following surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee this week and is eyeing a potential return for Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season as a best-case scenario.
Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs' vice president of sports medicine and performance, confirmed that Mahomes' procedure that took place Monday (December 15) went well and that a recovery timetable could be around nine months.
"Every player is different. Every sport is different. Every position is different," Burkholder said via ESPN. "[Mahomes] is so in tune to what he does, he does it a little quicker. Ballpark on this is nine months, but it could be a month or two more, a month or two less."
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid revealed that Mahomes, 30, didn't have any major damage to other ligaments when he suffered the injury during Sunday's (December 14) loss to the AFC West Division rival Los Angeles Chargers. Reid confirmed that Mahomes was set to get a second opinion from Cooper, who serves as the Dallas Cowboys' head team physician.
"He'll attack it, just like he does everything else," Reid said via ESPN. "There have been some pretty good quarterbacks who have had the same injury, and they've done pretty well after they came back. He'll get after it, and he's got good people here to rehab him. He'll be right on top of all of that.
"As long as the surgery goes well, as expected, then I would expect a fairly quick recovery for him, just because of those factors."
Mahomes appeared to experience an issue with his already injured left knee and was replaced by backup Gardner Minshew with 1:53 remaining in the fourth quarter. Minshew threw an interception with 14 seconds remaining to drop the Chiefs to 6-8, eliminating them from the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons.
Mahomes broke his silence on the injury with a post shared on his X account.
"Don’t know why this had to happen. And not going to lie it’s hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever," Mahomes wrote on his X account.
Mahomes was tackled from behind by Chargers defensive end De'Shawn Hand and remained down on the sideline while being treated by team medical staff before eventually being helped to his feet, taken to the blue medical tent and seen being held up by two staffers while hobbling to the locker room. The three-time Super Bowl MVP threw for 189 yards and one interception on 16 of 28 passing prior to exiting the game.
Mahomes had never previously missed the playoffs during his first seven seasons as the Chiefs' starting quarterback, emerging as one of the NFL's brightest stars and the face of the league's most dominant franchise during that span. Kansas City will conclude its 2025 regular season with a road game against the Tennessee Titans next Sunday (December 21) followed by a home game against the Denver Broncos (December 25) and a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders (January 4).