The Kansas City Chiefs will go into their Week 16 showdown against the Houston Texans with a healthy Patrick Mahomes—or healthy enough.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid spoke Thursday about Mahomes’s availability for Saturday’s game and gave an optimistic update on his starting status.
“We’ll most likely end up playing him, we’ll just see how things work out today,” Reid told reporters.
“That guy, he’s so mentally tough,” continued Reid. “It’s just a mindset he has going into it. So where he was a few days ago, yeah, I’d probably say it was a long shot. But he’s done well with it.”
Mahomes was listed as a full participant in practices this week despite suffering a mild high ankle sprain in Week 15’s win over the Browns. Kickoff against the Texans is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at Arrowhead.
The Chiefs quarterback is no stranger to ankle injuries, having been plagued by a similar issue during the 2022 season. That year, Mahomes played on an injured ankle in the playoffs and led the Chiefs to hard-fought victories over the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles en route to Kansas City’s Super Bowl win.
Mahomes did note that this year’s injury has responded “better, quicker” compared to that of two years ago.
His Chiefs teammates have sounded confident Mahomes would suit up even on a short week against the Texans, and now it appears more likely than not that he will play, hoping to take the Chiefs (13–1) one step closer to the No. 1 seed. Carson Wentz would be in line for the start if Mahomes suffers a setback in his recovery ahead of the weekend.
