On Monday night the Kansas City Chiefs used a thrilling 30-24 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to move to 8-0 on the season. The win, however, nearly came at great cost. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered an apparent ankle injury after throwing a touchdown pass to running back Samaje Perine.
Mahomes remained down on the field for several moments before eventually limping off. He went on to play the rest of the game, but admitted the injury scared him. “I was obviously running for the goal line and was kind of committed to running the football and at the last second [passed to] Samaje, and so I kind of awkwardly rolled the ankle a little bit,” Mahomes said. “You feel the pain, and that scares you. I’ve dealt with ankles before, but I just kind of laid there, and as time went on, the pain subsided. I just kind of got back to it and got back moving again and felt comfortable going out there.”
Fast forward to Kansas City’s first practice following Monday night’s game and the Chiefs revealed some uplifting news for fans: Mahomes was a full participant in practice. According to the injury report released on Wednesday, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton did not practice. Three other players, wide receiver Mecole Hardman, running back Kareem Hunt and defensive end George Karlaftis received a “limited” practice designation.
Other than that, the Chiefs were completely healthy and listed Mahomes, along with defensive end Mike Danna, defensive back Nazeeh Johnson and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi as full participants despite being dinged up during Monday night’s game. It’s welcomed news for Chiefs fans who want the team to keep its undefeated record intact. Mahomes and company will try to do just that this weekend with a divisional battle against the Denver Broncos.