Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Patrick Mahomes will start in Week 1 if everything goes as planned over the next few days.
When superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL towards the end of the 2025 regular season, questions swirled about whether or not he would be ready for the 2026 season.
Yet, here we are, less than one week away from the Kansas City Chiefs' season opener against the Denver Broncos, and it seems that Mahomes will start on Monday Night Football against the reigning AFC West champions.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to reporters on Tuesday and said that would be the case, as long as there are no setbacks.
"As far as our roster goes, pretty good chance that Patrick will go ahead and start unless something were to come up here in the next couple days, but most likely, he'll be the guy that's out there," Reid said.
Of course, Reid said there is a "pretty good chance" that Mahomes will be the starter, as long as everything goes well this week and over the weekend.
The rehab process was not easy for Mahomes, and it never is for players coming off a torn ACL.
Mahomes worked hard during OTAs and tried to make a return for Week 1, and at least for now, that should be the way things go, barring a surprising change of events.
In 2025, the Chiefs finished with a 6-11 record, missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade and ruining their chance of another Super Bowl appearance.
Mahomes threw for 3,587 yards with 22 touchdowns, and those were the lowest of his career besides his rookie season where he played just 1 game.
There were other reasons for that, and the fact he played just 14 games didn't help. Yet, the Chiefs made a big move by bringing in Eric Bieniemy once again as the offensive coordinator.
Kansas City also hit big by landing Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III to solidify the RB position, and that's an area this team had needed to address for quite some time.
Many wonder how Patrick Mahomes will play after suffering the torn ACL, and the fact that he turns 31 years old on September 17 is another reason to be a bit concerned.
Then again, he's one of the best quarterbacks we have seen in a long time, and he now reunites with his former OC who was there during the glory days.
At long last, Mahomes appears to be ready for the opener.
