Patrick Mahomes Could Return to Chiefs Way Earlier Than Expected

The Kansas City Chiefs would like to put their nightmare 2025 season behind them.

The Chiefs never quite looked like the Chiefs the world had come to know since two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes became the starter in 2018. They hovered around .500 all year and were hit by a double whammy in Week 15.

The Chiefs lost Mahomes to a torn ACL and LCL, and their loss to the Los Angeles Chargers eliminated them from playoff contention. Kansas City ended the season on a six-game losing streak to finish 6-11, the franchise’s worst mark under head coach Andy Reid.

Mahomes may be closer to putting it all behind him than previously thought possible.

Reid met with the media during the Chiefs’ rookie minicamp on Saturday and gave a promising update on Mahomes’ recovery.

“He is in a good position to be able to do some things,” Reid said. “There’s some rules and regulations that go with that, so we gotta just make sure that we’re on top of that part. If he can do some things, you know, phase 2 [of the offseason program], remember, there’s no contact. There’s no offense vs. defense. It’s phase 3 that you get into that.”

Reid continued, “Once you start the clock, then the clock’s gotta be rolling, so you just have to evaluate what you want to do there. He’s in a position where he can do everything, I think.”

Reid also confirmed that Mahomes “is throwing the ball,” but “he does it on his own” away from the team.

The Chiefs will hold their first OTAs from May 26 to May 28, per ESPN.

Whenever Mahomes returns, the Chiefs have made several moves to make life easier on him as he eases back into his pre-injury form.

For one, the Chiefs re-signed future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, who has been Mahomes’ safety blanket to the tune of three Super Bowl rings. Kansas City also brought back former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, under whom Mahomes had his most prolific individual seasons from 2018 to 2022.

But most notably, Kansas City signed Kenneth Walker III, the former Seattle Seahawks running back and reigning Super Bowl MVP, in free agency. That alone should lift the humongous burden Mahomes carried last season, as he was the Chiefs’ leading rusher before he went down.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 8:11 PM.