Patrick Mahomes had all of Arrowhead Stadium holding its breath for a brief moment on Monday night. The Chiefs quarterback initially appeared to suffer a significant injury during the fourth quarter of Kansas City’s eventual 30-24 Week 9 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mahomes was helped off the field by members of the Chiefs’ medical staff after throwing a game-tying touchdown pass to running back Samaje Perine with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
Mahomes wasn’t touched on the play, but he was seen hopping on his right leg after suffering a potential injury to his left leg. He initially did not put any weight on his leg before walking off the field with the help of two members of Kansas City’s medical staff. Shortly after reaching the Chiefs’ bench, Mahomes appeared to be fine as he was seen smiling and throwing a football while talking to members of the coaching staff. While the ESPN broadcast noted he suffered an ankle injury, he did not end up missing a snap.
In fact, Mahomes helped lead a game-winning drive in overtime to keep the Chiefs perfect season intact, moving to 8-0.
“I was obviously running for the goal line, kind of had committed to running the football, and at the last second saw Samaje ]Perine] and so kind of awkwardly rolled the ankle a bit,” Mahomes told reporters postgame, via NFL.com. “Definitely scary, I think it hurt more just because it was the same ankle I rolled last week.
“So scared me a little bit, but once I took my breath and kind of calmed down a little bit, it ended up not being too bad.”
A two-time league and three-time Super Bowl MVP, Mahomes had another big night. At the time of the injury scare, Mahomes had thrown for two touchdowns on 23 of 29 passing. He finished with 291 yards and three touchdowns on 34 of 44 passing.
“When he was being carried off, that wasn’t too easy, I wasn’t sure exactly where he was going to be with it,” head coach Andy Reid told reporters after the game. “But he might have the loosest ankles in America. I mean it’s ridiculous how he can come back from those things, and then he’s mentally tough on top of that.”
Mahomes will have to rest up quickly as the Chiefs are now in a short week, gearing up for a Week 10 matchup with the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
