Mahomes has officially been cleared to participate in training camp, which is a big step for No. 15.
Former Texas Tech star Patrick Mahomes is now moving through his ACL recovery at a brisk pace.
With the Kansas City Chiefs gearing up for training camp, it wasn't known if Mahomes would participate and, if he did, how much work he would do on the field.
Well, now we know. He's been medically cleared to take part in training camp.
No. 15 is officially back.
Now, that doesn't mean he will be all gas, no brakes as the Chiefs begin camp, but it is a good sign for his goal of starting in Week 1.
However, Mahomes isn't thinking that far ahead just yet; more so, being able to take part in camo is just another thing ticked off the list.
“Just looking at the dates, and there were certain checkpoints I had to get to, to get to this point,” Mahomes said. “And this is just another checkpoint on the schedule. So, you have to continue to work. It’s not like it’s over and I’m going to be able to play a game tomorrow.
"You’ve got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice and prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors, everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before, if not better, and I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games.”
Mahomes isn't going to carry a full load at camp to begin with; that would be playing with fire from a Chiefs perspective. But he'll at least be getting more football work in.
Likely to be a slow burn as he returns to football-type activities, Mahomes is making a good fist of it to be ready to be the Chiefs' starter to begin the year.
While some thought that was a little outlandish, others wanted No. 15 to take the entire 2026 season off, because we know players are rarely themselves in the first year post-ACL.
But Patrick is a little different, and time will tell if he is back to his normal self once the regular season begins.
However, to be that player, he's got to reach certain checkpoints in his recovery, and being medically cleared for camp is a great first step for the three-time Super Bowl champ.
