Mahomes ‘in a good spot’ with ankle injury
Patrick Mahomes strolled through Arrowhead Stadium without any issues with his injured right ankle on Thursday, and the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback expects to practice fully in the next 10 days leading up to the Super Bowl.
Mahomes sprained the ankle during the divisional round against Jacksonville, and he was clearly hobbled in last Sunday night’s AFC championship win over Cincinnati. But despite taking a couple of hard shots during that game, and his mad dash in the closing seconds to set up the winning field goal, Mahomes came out of it feeling just fine.
“It was a physical game. My whole body was a little sore. But I don’t think I had any step backward, a reaggravation of the ankle,” Mahomes said. “A little pain playing with it but other than that, I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
The Chiefs sustained a number of other injuries during their 23-20 win over the Bengals, though. They lost three wide receivers — Mecole Hardman reinjured his pelvis,
JuJu Smith-Schuster had swelling in his knee and Kadarius Toney sprained his ankle — while cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was in the concussion protocol and Willie Gay Jr. hurt his shoulder.
Gay was the only one that returned to practice on an unseasonably mild February day in Kansas City.
Coach Andy Reid did say that Toney did the morning walk-through and “he’s close and doing well,” while Smith-Schuster “is in a good place.
The main thing is we let that calm down. We’re very optimistic right now.”
The news wasn’t as positive for Hardman, who first hurt his abdominal area in November. The Chiefs later began to classify it as a pelvis injury as Hardman neared his return from injured reserve, but he wasn’t able to make it back onto the field until the AFC title game. He was hurt while getting wrapped up after a catch and did not return.
“Very courageous effort,” Reid said, “and my heart goes out to the kid. He is hurting today.”
While the Chiefs remained thin at wide receiver, they did have
Justin Watson back on the practice field. He was ruled out before kickoff against Cincinnati with an illness, forcing Marcus Kemp to come up from the practice squad.
The Chiefs also are hopeful that Sneed will clear the concussion protocol in the two weeks between games.
In a defense featuring three rookie cornerbacks and a rookie safety, Sneed is often tasked with covering the opposition’s best wide receiver. It would have been Ja’Marr
Chase against the Bengals, but Sneed was hurt on the game’s fourth play and did not return; it will likely be A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith if he can play against the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Reid also said there’s a possibility Clyde Edwards-Helaire, their 2020 first-round pick, will be activated for the big game. Edwards-Helaire had already ceded the No. 1 running back job to rookie Isiah Pacheco before a high ankle sprain landed him on injured reserve in late November, but his versatility could be helpful against a tough Eagles defense.
“He’ll practice. We’ll see where he’s at,” Reid said. “We’re just taking it day by day, seeking out how he’s feeling, not only during practice but after practice. He’ll work today.”
HURTS THE ‘X-FACTOR’
Brandon Graham laughed as he recalled all the doubters who rushed him during the offseason and blurted out the same question — the main concern, really — about the state of the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback.
“What’s Jalen going to do?” said Graham, the strip-sacking defensive end.
Yes, it’s hard to remember now, but Jalen Hurts was a bit of a mystery headed into his second full season as the starting QB. His solid 2021 season was marred by a poor playoff performance
against Tampa Bay (that included two crushing interceptions) and reports of a rough go at organized team activities.
So the question raised around Philly really was, what’s Jalen going to do?
“I don’t know how many times I got that from fans, even some media people,” Graham said. “‘I don’t know, the X-factor is Jalen. We don’t know what Jalen is going to do.’ ”
How about take the Eagles to the brink of their second Super Bowl championship?
Hurts launched the Eagles from preseason 30-1 odds to win the Super Bowl to staking them as 1 1⁄2-point favorites against Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
As the seconds ticked down in the NFC championship victory over San Francisco, Graham and Fletcher Cox embraced Hurts on the sideline. Just a couple of defensive stalwarts who wanted to thank the quarterback that made it all happen.
“I was just telling him, I appreciate him because of all the things that he had to overcome this year,” Graham said. “You didn’t see him get rattled, not one time. Man, I’m going to fight for a guy like that every time.”
The only true setback this season was a sprained right shoulder that cost Hurts two games. He still is playing through it;
Hurts was a modest 15-of-25 passing for 121 yards and ran for 39 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers. The
24-year-old Hurts has downplayed the severity of the injury from the beginning. He simply said Thursday, “I’m getting
there.”
The AFC champion Chiefs are prepared for Hurts at full speed.
“This is the Jalen Hurts Show at the end of the day,” defensive end Frank Clark said. “If you can stop what he’s doing, you can possibly slow them down. But he’s playing some great football.”
Hurts is appreciative of the magnitude of the moment. Mahomes and Hurts are both Texas natives. They are both NFL MVP finalists. And they will be the first Black QBs to face off in a Super Bowl.
Hurts said he tried to live up to the trail blazed in Philadelphia by fellow Black quarterbacks such as Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Randall Cunningham. While they are the most notable names, Rodney Peete and Vince Young were also Black starting QBs in Philly.
Hurts was honored to match up with Mahomes.
“I think it’s history. I think it’s something that’s worthy of being noted,” Hurts said.
The Chiefs beat the Eagles in October 2021 when Hurts threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes? Well, he threw for five. But the game was one of the earliest signs that Hurts would grow into the man in Philly.
“He had a great game this day,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said, “but he continues to get better.”
SHANAHAN ‘CONTENT’ WITH QBS
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is “content” going into next
Brock Purdy Trey Lance
season with and as the top two quarterbacks for the 49ers even after both head into the offseason rehabilitating major injuries.
Purdy could be sidelined until training camp with an elbow injury suffered in the NFC championship game, while Lance is still recovering from a second operation on his broken right ankle but is expected to be ready for the offseason program.
But that uncertainty doesn’t mean the 49ers are looking for a veteran option to compete as the starter on one of the NFL’s most talented rosters.
“I know we have two starters on our team right now that I believe we can win with, so when you have that situation, you’re not that eager to go looking around,” Shanahan said Wednesday.
Lance began the season as the starter but got hurt early in his second game. He has thrown only 102 passes in two seasons in the NFL after San Francisco traded three firstround picks to draft him third overall in 2021.
Purdy came in with much less fanfare as the last pick in the 2022 draft but shined late in the season.