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Patrick Mahomes suffered a nasty ankle injury in last week's Divisional Round showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Kansas City Chiefs won, and Mahomes was able to return, but the status of his ankle injury is worth monitoring.
All indications are that he'll play on Sunday, but how effective will he be? One NFL insider believes there's reason to be very concerned.
Albert Breer said this on the Rich Eisen Show:
"I think he's certainly going to be limited. And you know, like, there's different degrees of this sort of injury. You know, high ankle sprain is probably the, I would say the most poorly, the most poorly named injury in football, because a lot of people look at it and say it's a sprained ankle. It's not, it's ligament damage is serious."
Ankle injuries don't always sound terribly serious, but Breer stressed that a high ankle sprain is much more severe than it sounds. There's been damage to Mahomes' ligament, so no amount of tape or ankle support can fully heal it.
With a tough matchup with Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on tap, Mahomes will need every ounce of health to pull off the victory.
Patrick Mahomes' next game: Can he beat the Bengals?
Despite being the best quarterback in the NFL by most metrics, Patrick Mahomes does not have something Joe Burrow has: a win in a head-to-head matchup.
Thus far, Burrow is 3-0 against Mahomes, one of those wins coming in last year's AFC Title bout.
Burrow and the Bengals topped the Chiefs earlier this year, too. Can Mahomes and his hobbled ankle finally take down Burrow and company?
As of now, the odds don't believe so. The Chiefs, despite being at home, are ever-so-slight underdogs by 1.5 points. That flipped from the starting odds, and it may flip again, but oddsmakers currently prefer the Bengals.
This is a rarity in the Mahomes era and for the Chiefs to be underdogs at home. Nevertheless, the Chiefs can never be counted out, even with an unfit Patrick Mahomes. Sunday's game should be one to remember.
