Travis Kelce opens up on the seriousness of Patrick Mahomes' ankle issue ahead of AFC championship game

During the Kansas City Chiefs' 27-20 divisional round victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain early in the game from pass rusher Arden Key.

Mahomes left the game for a quarter but returned in the second half and led the Chiefs to victory.

Heading into the AFC championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Mahomes will not be 100% healthy by Sunday.

Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce spoke on his podcast with his brother Jason about the severity of Mahomes' ankle injury.

"Obviously, you hate to see when when your quarterback goes down, let alone anybody on the frickin' field," Travis Kelce said. "But when you got the MVP of the league go down in the playoffs in the most meaningful game of the season up to date, I mean, that's not an easy situation to go through.

"And what made it even harder is that he was kind of right on that brink of going back in or coming out? Can he still be a productive quarterback in this style offense with his ankle like that? And then you got to take in the fact that, you know, what's really just happened? Like, did he tear ligaments? Did he break a bone?"

Kelce added that the team wants to make sure Mahomes doesn't jeopardize the rest of his career.

"You know, the training staff, the upstairs part of it," Kelce said. "That is a half-a-billion-dollar man that just got injured. We want to make sure that he's good, not only for this game, for the rest of his career. So, I think they had to do a little bit more assessing and evaluating on him.

"But it's just, um, it's a tough situation to go through as a team, you know. Anytime your leader goes down, it's a tough, tough mindset. But the no matter who it is, and you can't take away what Pat does for this team, and what he does, you know, to make us win every week in, week out."

Patrick Mahomes will start this Sunday vs. the Cincinatti Bengals despite injuring his ankle vs. the Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Despite suffering a high ankle sprain, Mahomes will still start this weekend in the AFC championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mahomes addressed the media on Wednesday:

“It’s doing good. I got a few days of treatment and rehab. I’m excited to get on the practice field and try it out, but it’s feeling good so far.”

Mahomes will have a fourth crack at beating them in his career against Cincinnati as he holds a 0-3 against the Bengals thus far.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Travis Kelce, New Heights and H/T Sportskeeda.