Chiefs made to sweat on Mahomes ankle injury
PATRICK MAHOMES shook off an ankle injury to lead the Kansas City Chiefs into the AFC Championship game for the fifth consecutive season.
An MRI yesterday confirmed that he suffered a high ankle sprain. A normal recovery time is six to eight weeks. Quarterback Mahomes — the MVP elect — suffered the blow late in the first quarter after taking a low hit and falling awkwardly on his right ankle during the 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Clearly agitated at being pulled for backup Chad Henne, Mahomes hobbled to the locker room at Arrowhead for an X-ray, which proved to be negative.
‘I didn’t want to go get the X-rays or whatever it was. I wanted just to continue to play,’ he said. He returned and was clearly hindered, but even a one-legged Mahomes is better than most quarterbacks in the NFL. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 195 yards and threw for two touchdowns as tight end Travis Kelce wreaked havoc, catching 14 of 15 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
‘It feels better than I thought it was going to be now,’ Mahomes said afterwards. ‘But I’ll hop right in the treatment and try to do whatever I can to be as close to 100 per cent by next week.’ The Chiefs will play the winners of last night’s divisional round game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. It is a rematch of the cancelled week 17 game during which Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 24, suffered a cardiac arrest on the field and was resuscitated through CPR. Hamlin was in attendance at Highmark Stadium last night. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles showed their Super Bowl credentials as the NFC’s No 1 seed beat the New York Giants 38-7. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another despite still suffering from a sprained sternoclavicular joint in his throwing shoulder. ‘I shouldn’t even go there but it’s like having Michael Jordan out there,’ said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni of Hurts. They will host either the San Francisco 49ers or the Dallas Cowboys.