Andy Reid Gives Promising Update on Patrick Mahomes’ Rehab
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid offered a positive update on quarterback Patrick Mahomes as he continues recovering from major knee surgery.
Mahomes suffered a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee during Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers. He underwent surgery the following day, putting his availability for the start of the 2026 season in question.
Since then, both team officials and Mahomes himself have described the rehab process as productive.
During a February 20 press conference, Reid detailed Mahomes’ daily routine and work ethic.
“He’s around here all the time… 7 hours a day. He’s in there making progress every day,” Reid said, via Chiefs Wire’s Charles Goldman. “Julie (Frymyer) makes sure he stays on task and challenges him… It’s not going to be a pleasant thing every day; you’ve got to fight through and attack the challenge of the rehab and workout.”
Earlier in January, Mahomes told reporters his rehab was going “great,” adding that doctors have had to hold him back from pushing too hard. He said he wants to be ready for the Chiefs’ Week 1 matchup but acknowledged that doctors told him he still has “a long way to go.”
On January 4, Reid again addressed Mahomes’ recovery, according to ESPN’s Nate Taylor.
“He’s doing great for just being 3 weeks out. He’ll go ahead & most likely stay up here (in KC) rehabbing. He has a lot of trust in (Julie Frymyer). He’s been in there grinding,” Reid said.
Chiefs Talk Mahomes’ Rehab & Recovery Timeline
Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Burkholder also provided insight into the injury and recovery timeline.
“Every player is different, every sport is different, every position is different,” Burkholder said during a December 17, 2025, press conference. “With him, traditionally, he’s going after it. So he’s so in tune with what he does that he does it a little quicker. Ballpark on this thing is nine months. It could be a month or two less, month or two more. You never know what goes on.”
Burkholder explained that surgery occurred quickly because of additional damage discovered in the MRI, including an LCL avulsion injury.
“The reason he wanted to operate on him quickly, where we usually wait on the ACLs is because the LCL we wanted to reattach the evulsion injury there,” Burkholder said. “After seeing the MRI, they said everything that he had in this injury was fixable, correctable, and it was fixed on Monday Night by Dr. Cooper.”
Burkholder confirmed Mahomes avoided additional complications.
“He had no artery damage, no nerve damage, no joint surface damage, no meniscal damage,” Burkholder said. “He’s already started rehab down in Dallas.”
“He attacks him and does very well, and he’s in that mode right now,” Burkholder added. “When you add up all the little things that allows the player to get back faster, they don’t heal up any faster, they just get back to performance faster.”