Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes told the media Thursday that he hasn’t felt this good in a long time.
“I would say going into the Jacksonville game,” said Mahomes about the last time he felt as good. “Just not having to worry about the ankle or not have to worry about the knee and just being able to go out there and play football the way that I have been able to play it my whole career so far.”
Mahomes returned to the field last Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, putting up numbers straight out of a video game: 36 of 50 for 446 yards and three touchdowns. If he feels better now, that could spell trouble for the rest of the NFL.
“I think I feel really good, honestly,” added Mahomes. “Just going out there and playing the game and doing the things I’ve grown accustomed to doing like scrambling and all that different type of stuff and coming out healthy is a positive sign and I’m glad I can keep moving forward with that.”
Going back to the game against Jacksonville — the Chiefs quarterback sprained his left ankle a few minutes into the second quarter. In the first quarter, Mahomes finished 8 of 9 for 211 yards and two touchdowns, an 844-yard, eight-touchdown pace.
Mahomes played through his left ankle injury until Week 7, when he suffered a dislocated right kneecap in the team’s Thursday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos. With no choice but to rest for two weeks, that allowed his left ankle to heal completely.
Mahomes said he felt close to his preseason self almost immediately upon touching the field in Tennessee.
“The moment I got on that and you get your mind off of it and you’re able to focus on what you need to focus on in order to have success as a team, that was the moment for me,” said the quarterback. “I think during pregame and during the week you’re trying to push it to see what you can do and what you can’t do. I think when I got on the field I was good to go and everything I had done with the trainers and doctors had prepared me for the game.”
As of this writing, Mahomes sits sixth in MVP odds (according to BetOnline.ag), behind Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers and Christian McCaffrey.
But even after missing two and a half games, he remains in a four-way tie for third in NFL passing touchdowns with 18, five behind Wilson.
Don’t sleep on Mahomes to get back in the race — if anyone could pull it off, it’s Mahomes, especially now that he is close to 100 percent.