Patrick Mahomes’ Arduous Ankle Rehab To Continue Before Super Bowl

In the week between suffering a high right ankle sprain in the divisional playoffs and winning the AFC Championship Game, Patrick Mahomes was rarely at home.

Instead, he said he was getting treatment at the team’s facility.

Even though the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback threw for 326 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and posted a 105.4 rating against the Cincinnati Bengals, Mahomes’ recovery is far from over.

That process likely takes two to three hours a day up until kickoff of Super Bowl LVII, according to Dr. James Gladstone, chief of the sports medicine division at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

What does that treatment of the Chiefs’ most valuable asset entail?

Shortly after the Chiefs defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional playoffs, it likely started with ice, anti-inflammatory medicine and electrical stimulation.

“The first thing you want to do is reduce the pain and reduce the swelling,” said Gladstone, who has not seen Mahomes as a patient but was speaking in generalities.

The next step involves getting the motion going again because the ankle gets really stiff. Even if the pain was under control — due to the medication and Mahomes’ now legendary toughness — a high ankle sprain makes it difficult to run, cut and pivot.

Once the range of motion is okay, the ankle is stabilized, and functional activities like running, twisting and turning begin.

A healthy Mahomes excels at those movements, but he operated mostly from the pocket while leading the Chiefs to the 23-20 victory against the Bengals.

“I didn’t have that burst that I usually have. I got the ball out of my hands quickly,” Mahomes said. “I threw probably a few more checkdowns then I would usually throw and relied on my teammates to make the plays.”

Mahomes looked like himself on a third-quarter pass that was his best of the day.

Just before getting sandwiched by defensive linemen Sam Hubbard and B.J. Hill on the 3rd-and-10 play, he threw a perfectly placed 19-yard touchdown to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

After tight end Travis Kelce was double teamed, Mahomes squeezed in the throw just past the reach of cornerback Mike Hilton to Valdes-Scantling, who was his third read on the play.

“I just tried to throw a line drive to him,” Mahomes said. “He was able to make a big play for us in a big part of the game.”

But on a 3rd and 4 earlier in that same drive, Mahomes’ ankle looked its worst. He rolled out to his left to complete a first-down pass to Mecole Hardman but came up limping.

“That definitely didn’t feel good,” Mahomes said. “The stopping was going to be the hardest part and obviously throwing it across your body because you have to plant that right leg and twist across and throw.”

But with the advantage of two weeks before his next game, will Mahomes’ ankle be better when he plays against the Philadelphia Eagles?

“It’s so difficult to say since there’s so little information out there on it,” Gladstone said. “It totally depends on the severity of the sprain.”

High ankle sprains range in severity from Grade 1 to Grade 3.

The latter grade involves the ligament being ripped in half and often needs surgery, and it’s unlikely Mahomes suffered that because his ankle would’ve been so unstable that playing on it would’ve been nearly impossible. With that severe an injury — even if it doesn’t require surgery — it could take three to four months to heal.

On the opposite spectrum, Gladstone said physical therapy and a brace could help a Grade 1 high ankle sprain return to health as quickly as two weeks.

That’s the amount of time Mahomes will have to rest and rehabilitate before Super Bowl LVII, following his gutty performance in the AFC Championship Game.

“They got me close as they could to 100%,” Mahomes said after that game. “Then I just battled through, and I’ll have a few more weeks to get it ready.”