Mahomes Is Now Day-To-Day After His Elbow Injury

The Kansas City Chiefs caught a break on Sunday when quarterback Patrick Mahomes barely avoided a serious injury to his right elbow, but the Chiefs will now have to play a waiting game with their star quarterback. 

Coach Andy Reid commented about Mahomes’ status on Monday, saying he was “day-to-day,” and he added that the news was “more positive” than negative with the quarterback being “in good spirits.” 

The issues at hand are soreness and rehab, but the one thing we do know at this point is that Mahomes will be playing on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons after the MRI revealed no serious issues. 

The injury didn’t seem to affect the quarterback’s performance after the half against the New York Jets, as Mahomes  completed 7-of-10 passes for 81 yards in the third quarter, per a report from Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, then 5-of-6 for 41 yards in the fourth quarter. 

The Chiefs did alter their game plan in the second half to focus on shorter throws, though, as Mahomes’ longest throw of the second half traveled 15 yards in the air. 

Reid also mentioned receiver Xavier Worthy and tackle Jaylon Moore as also being day-to-day, which is especially good news with Worthy given that his hamstring injury looked potentially serious when he left the field. Moore has been dealing with an ankle injury. 

Jesse Newell of The Athletic addressed the possibility that this might be a lingering injury, but Mahomes mentioned that his arm felt better as the second half progressed and he was able to warm up and periodically have his elbow worked on between series. 

The issue now will be reducing fluid and restoring a full range of motion after the swelling goes down, as Mahomes left his arm hanging and supported the elbow with his other arm when he left the field. 

The quarterback’s status is an all-or-nothing affair for the Chiefs given what we saw last season when Mahomes was out. Kansas City collapsed completely down the stretch, and that could easily happen again if Mahomes is out for any kind of significant stretch. 

One thing we did learn is that backup Justin Fields is not the answer. Fields came on to address the Chiefs’ problems with quarterback sneaks, and he quickly fumbled the ball away to the Jets. 

That put Fields back on the sidelines, and Kansas City subsequently used an innovative sideways shuffle pass to tight end Travis Kelce at the goal to score a touchdown and temporarily solve the problem.