Patrick Mahomes’ return is still the biggest storyline hanging over the Chiefs, and the latest signs keep pointing in the same direction: he’s tracking toward Week 1.
Mahomes is currently rehabbing ahead of Chiefs training camp, with a hopeful projected return in Week 1. That’s the headline, but the path to get there has been steady.
In late June 2026, Albert Breer reported that Mahomes was trending toward full 11-on-11 clearance when camp opens. Before that, he handled 7-on-7 work at minicamp from June 9-11 while Andy Reid kept him out of 11-on-11 periods.
Earlier in June, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Mahomes wants preseason action before a Week 1 return.
The progress has been visible all spring. In late May 2026, Mahomes took every dropback and 7-on-7 rep at OTAs, though he still wasn’t running or cutting.
In mid-May, he joined the Chiefs’ first voluntary workout, about five months after surgery. Then on March 31 at league meetings, Reid said he’d “never bet against” Mahomes starting Week 1.
Around that same stretch, Mahomes was seen walking at the Big 12 tournament without a brace or crutches, and in March 2026 Jay Glazer reported growing optimism about a Week 1 return.
The injury itself came on Dec. 14, 2025, late in a Week 15 loss to the Chargers. With less than two minutes left in a 16-13 defeat that officially ended the Chiefs’ playoff hopes for the first time since 2014, Mahomes scrambled to his right, got the throw away just before Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand brought him down, and then planted awkwardly as his left knee buckled.
He immediately grabbed at the knee in obvious pain and had to be helped off by trainers on both sides. An MRI that night confirmed a torn ACL, and later reports added a torn LCL.
Mahomes underwent surgery in Dallas on Dec. 15, 2025, with Dr. Dan Cooper repairing the torn LCL as well.
Two days later, Chiefs VP of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder said the surgery went well and laid out a recovery timeline of roughly nine months. Mahomes returned to Kansas City in late December to begin rehab with trainer Julie Frymyer, and on Jan. 15, 2026, he told reporters rehab was “going great” and said he planned to attend OTAs.
The Chiefs have had a backup plan ready for a while. Brett Veach let Gardner Minshew leave in free agency to Arizona on a one-year deal, then sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Jets for Justin Fields.
That was a shift away from the usual low-cost veteran QB2 setup the Chiefs had used with Blaine Gabbert, Minshew and Carson Wentz. It also signaled that Fields could be the starter if Mahomes isn’t ready for Week 1.
Fields completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 1,259 yards with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception in 9 games with the Jets last season, and he added 383 rushing yards and 4 scores on the ground. Reid has said the Chiefs didn’t bring him in to be a gadget player, calling him a legitimate NFL starting quarterback.
As for the injury itself, the ACL and LCL are two of the knee’s four major stabilizing ligaments, and tearing both on one play is exactly the kind of setback that can stretch the rehab process. Dr.
Ayoosh Pareek said the LCL damage usually means more bracing, restricted motion and limited weight-bearing early on, which can add two to four months to the usual 9-12 month ACL timeline. He also noted that time can be made up later once the ligaments heal and the work shifts to strength and cutting control.
So far, Mahomes has hit every checkpoint at or ahead of schedule.
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