Phoenix—Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes said Monday the right high ankle sprain he aggravated in Sunday’s victory over Philadelphia will not keep him from Kansas City’s off-season workouts.
Mahomes grimaced on the sideline late in the second quarter after limping off the field but returned in the second half with deadly runs and throws to spark the Chiefs to a 38-35 triumph.
The 27-year-old superstar became the first quarterback in NFL history to lead the league in passing yards during to regular season and then guide his club to victory in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in four seasons and Mahomes improved to 2-1 in the NFL championship spectacle, winning in 2020 before losing the following year.
“It has been an amazing run these last five, six years and let’s keep it rolling,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes said he will be ready for the start of off-season training activities (OTAs) with the Chiefs in late May and early June.
“I’ll for sure be ready for OTAs and everything like that,” Mahomes said. “Obviously we’ll have to continue to rehab, continue the treatment that we were doing and just give it some rest. I mean, I think the best thing for it is going to be rest. Just try to make sure when we get to OTAs I’ll be ready to go.”
Mahomes indicated that one part of his usual off-season routine will suffer while he rests his ankle.
“The only thing that might take a hit is my golf game,” Mahomes said. “I’ll have to take a few weeks off of that.”
Mahomes first suffered the injury in a playoff victory over Jacksonville and felt the pain again after Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards grabbed him by the legs to bring him down on Sunday.
“The only time it had that real hurt was when I got tackled it kind of rolled to the outside a little bit,” Mahomes said.
“Once you have that high ankle sprain, when any little tweak like that happens, it just really magnifies it…
“Luckily we were able to get into halftime and get some new tape on there and get some mobility back.
“It was something I was going to play through but I’m glad to get a little bit of rest on it now.”
Mahomes completed 21 of 27 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 44 yards, 26 of them on a late-game scramble to set up the winning field goal by Harrison Butker.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid, 64, said he will return next season but hasn’t deeply contemplated his long-term plans.
“I haven’t put much thought into all that,” Reid said. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing. (Mahomes) is a pretty good player so we’re doing OK.”