It’s conference championship week. With only four teams on the NFL schedule this week — Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals — one interesting story can dominate the entire conversation leading up to games. This time, it’s QB Patrick Mahomes’ ankle.
The fact that this story is dominant heading into the weekend makes sense. He is the best player in the league and his team is hosting the AFC Championship game against The Bengals who are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Also, the game comes a week after he suffered a high ankle sprain and he still could limp the Chiefs to victory — aided, of course, by a timely 98-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Chad Henne.
How mobile does Mahomes look right now?
Since his right ankle rolled against the Jacksonville Jaguars, no leg in America has had as much attention as his. Not even Brent Maher as he got over his twitches during Dallas Cowboys loss on Sunday at Eagles. Mahomes’ ankle is getting so much attention that Fox 4 KC’s Harold R. Kuntz is filming it walk down from the lectern of the press conference the last two days. And when I shoot Mahomes, I only think about his legs.
Thursday Update: Mahomes didn’t even need to use the stairs.
Knox’s assessment: Don’t be a hero… until Sunday.
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Kuntz isn’t the only reporter on the scene sharing videos of Mahomes’ mobility. In the part of the training that was open to the media, a lots of videos were sent Mahomes moving around. As the Chiefs warmed up, Mahomes actually ran and spun as he headed toward his next stop. He’s certainly running better than he was on Sunday.
In his comments to the media, Andy Reid said Mahomes “did a good job and he was “comfortable with what we did.” Mahomes said he believes his practice Wednesday went well, “Better than I expected.”
For the chiefs fans — and those of us who want to see it well played AFC Championship Game — This news from Kansas City is the best we could get. During the Chiefs’ most active days of practice, Mahomes moved very well. Also, both he and the head coach gave positive updates on the health of the most important leg in the sport this weekend.
Will the ankle affect Mahomes’ game on Sunday?
There’s no way Mahomes will be 100 percent against the Bengals. He will test that ankle by trying to apply the same kind of pressure that disrupted the Buffalo Bills during the Bengals Dvisionary Rfirst win on Sunday. However, if he can move throughout the game as well as he has in practice, he will be able to play well enough for the Chiefs to have a chance to win.
We got a close-up and overhead view of Mahomes’ health. All left is a view of Arrowhead Stadium from the CBS cameras at 6:30 PM EST on January 29, 2023.