Patrick Mahomes’ Elbow MRI Came Back Clean. Andy Reid Still Would Not Promise Him Full Practice Reps.
Patrick Mahomes got the only result that mattered on Sunday night. The MRI on his right elbow came back clean.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Mahomes had the scan after Kansas City’s 35-12 win over the Jets and that “the tests did not reveal a major injury.” Rapoport described it as an elbow strain or sprain that will be monitored over the next few days for pain and swelling. No reporter has described ligament damage.
Mahomes had already guessed as much. “Once I could throw the ball, I knew it wasn’t a ligament, and it was more muscles,” he said.
Andy Reid Called Him Day to Day and Stopped There
Here is the part worth your attention. Reid met with reporters Monday, said there was “more positive news than negative news on Patrick,” called him day to day, and then would not say whether Mahomes will take full reps in this week’s three practices. Reid said he would reassess Wednesday.
On its own that is routine. For a team with two losses and no cushion, it is not nothing.
The hit came late in the second quarter, when Jets edge rusher David Bailey got to Mahomes on a pass attempt and the elbow bent backward. Mahomes did not miss an offensive snap. He finished 23 of 31 for 242 yards and two touchdowns, both thrown before the injury, and his average throw traveled 2.8 air yards, the second-lowest figure of his career in a game according to Next Gen Stats. Reid went to a short, quick passing game after halftime and let Kenneth Walker III and Xavier Worthy do the rest after the catch.
Mahomes did not pretend he was calm about it. “Any time it’s elbows and knees, it’s always scary, just because you just don’t know,” he said. He added a line that will not comfort anyone in Kansas City: “I’ve never had any elbow issues. Hopefully we can stay away from those.”
Why This One Landed Harder
Eleven months ago Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on a non-contact play against the Chargers, had surgery the next day, and missed the last three games of 2025. The Chiefs finished 6-11, third in the AFC West, and Mahomes missed the postseason for the first time in his career. Anybody who watched that is allowed to flinch at an elbow bending the wrong way.
He is 31, and he has started all eight games this season since that surgery. Kansas City is 6-2, a game behind 7-2 Denver in the division and level with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Jacksonville for the third-best record in the AFC.
Justin Fields, acquired from the Jets in March, is the backup, and Sunday offered a short preview of the alternative. Reid called a quarterback sneak with Fields on third and 1 in the first quarter. Fields was stopped, a Jets challenge turned the play into a fumble, Demario Davis recovered, and New York kicked a field goal out of it. Reid, asked about the call afterward, said: “You guys asked for it. So we gave it to you, and you know, it didn’t work.”
What Happens Now
The Chiefs play at Atlanta on Sunday. Mahomes said what you expected him to say. “If I’m able to play, I’m going to play.”
He almost certainly will. Getting the fluid out of the joint is the only job left this week, and Mahomes said so himself: “That will be important this week, getting that swelling and the fluid out of it, so I can be ready to go from the first snap next week.”
Kansas City has a kicker problem, a run of four straight games with a missed kick from Harrison Butker, and a two-game gap to close in the AFC. A healthy throwing elbow was the one thing it could not afford to lose. It did not lose it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
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