Patrick Mahomes ‘Way Ahead of Schedule' in ACL Recovery

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 14.

Just a few months later, Mahomes has already made significant strides toward returning to NFL action.

This past weekend, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Mahomes will participate in OTAs in some capacity. Kansas City’s general manager Brett Veach also revealed that the superstar quarterback is “way ahead of schedule” in his recovery process.

Veach said Mahomes is at the Chiefs’ facilities working with training staff constantly.

“He’s way ahead of schedule,” Veach said during a recent appearance on Sirius XM Radio. “I think the biggest challenge we're going to have is protecting him against himself, because I'm sure when we get to St. Joseph, Missouri for training camp he's going to want to be full go. But we're going to have to hold him back a little.

“We’re in a really good place right now.”

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The Chiefs lost each of their last six games to close out the 2025 NFL regular season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Mahomes hopes to be fully healthy and ready to go by the time the 2026 regular season begins in September.

“I want to be ready for Week 1,” Mahomes said in January. “The doctor said that I could be, but I can't predict what's gonna happen throughout the process. But that's my goal, and so I'll try to prepare myself to be ready to play in that Week 1 and have no restrictions.”

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Earlier this offseason, the Chiefs acquired former first-round draft pick Justin Fields in a trade with the New York Jets. If Mahomes is unable to go in Week 1, Fields will likely be Kansas City’s starting quarterback.

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 10:40 AM.