Patrick Mahomes gave fans a moment to squint, speculate, and spiral all at once Sunday night.
Just before Kansas City kicked off against the Colts, broadcast cameras caught Mahomes tilting back a small bottle in the locker room. The liquid inside looked pale and slightly yellow under the lights, and that was enough to send the internet running with it. One widely shared clip was captioned, “Patrick Mahomes chugging vodka before the game 😭.”
From there, the reactions piled up fast on X. One fan wrote, “Im so happy I wasnt the only one who saw this and went, ‘Wait..is that??’
😂😂” Another jumped to the correct answer immediately: “That’s def pickle juice.” A third tossed in, “His dad is a bad influence,” while another pushed back on the vodka theory with, “That’s not vodka…”
The truth, as it turned out, was much less dramatic. Reporting after the broadcast confirmed the bottle held pickle juice, not alcohol.
Kansas City’s medical and performance staff have used it for years, and it’s part of the team’s longer-running collection of pregame habits under Andy Reid. Around the NFL, pickle juice has a reputation as a cramp-prevention tool because of its high sodium content, which is meant to help players avoid muscle issues in physical, high-intensity games.
Mahomes has already talked about that same hydration trick before, and teammates have been spotted drinking it on the sideline too. The odd-looking bottle only set off the wave of confusion because of the camera angle and the lighting, which made the liquid look a lot closer to a clear spirit than a sideline staple.
It was another viral Mahomes moment in a season that has already delivered a few of them, from his reaction to a reporter’s ringtone to another unexpected camera shot. This one just took a few minutes to go from eyebrow-raising to fully explained.
In Other News...
Seahawks Suddenly Face A Sam Darnold Decision They Wanted Soon
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Now Darnold is expected to return to practice this week, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, which means the conversation the Seahawks hoped to delay is suddenly here. Lock has handled the job well enough to keep the team unbeaten, but Seattle remains committed to Darnold as its starter, so the next step is less about whether the team likes what it has seen and more about how quickly it wants to hand the offense back to the quarterback it planned to build around. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Have A Bigger QB Decision Than Fans Expected
Sam Darnolds availability has quickly become the Seahawks most interesting storyline heading into Week 3, even with Mike Macdonald making it clear the job belongs to the starter if hes healthy enough to go. Darnold has been dealing with a glute injury suffered in Week 1, and Seattle has had to weigh the value of getting him back on the field against the reality that Drew Lock has looked steady in relief.
Macdonald said Darnold is expected to practice in some capacity before the team makes its final call, which keeps the situation in motion for now. For a Seahawks offense trying to settle in early in the season, the question is no longer just whether Darnold can suit up, but whether Seattle has a reason to keep riding the hand the backup has given it if the starter is close but not quite ready. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Face A Drew Lock Decision They May Not Afford
Sam Darnolds injury absence has already reminded the Seahawks how much value there is in a dependable No. 2 quarterback, and Drew Lock has filled that role well enough to keep Seattle afloat. In limited starts, he helped the team go 2-0, giving the staff a level of comfort that is hard to find once a season starts to turn on depth and availability.
Now comes the part Seattle would rather avoid: interest from the outside. With the Giants suddenly in need after Jaxson Darts season-ending injury, Lock is a name that could come up, but the Seahawks may be wiser to treat him as more than a movable asset. A reliable backup is one of those pieces teams only miss once they no longer have it, and Seattles situation makes that lesson feel especially current. [Read more 🡒]