KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Timelines with knee injuries can vary quite a bit, but the Kansas City Chiefs are hopeful Patrick Mahomes will be back on the field in nine months if not sooner.
Mahomes underwent surgery on his left knee to repair his torn ACL and LCL on Monday in Dallas, and Chiefs vice president of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder said Wednesday that Mahomes already had his first rehab session in Dallas and would return to Kansas City on Friday to begin rehab at the team facility.
“In the past with Patrick and his injuries, he attacks them and does very well,” Burkholder said. “And he’s in that mode right now. I’ve talked to him every day and I know Coach (Andy Reid) has too. And he’s already on it.”
Burkholder said Mahomes will work primarily with team athletic trainer Julie Frymyer, who worked with Mahomes when he had a dislocated patella, turf toe and ankle injuries. While the nine-month recovery timeline is a ballpark figure, Burkholder said it could also be a month or two less or a month or two more.
Mahomes, though, had no artery, nerve, joint or meniscus damage to the knee and now it’s a matter of going through the lengthy rehabilitation process.
“As a player, his mindset is a little different than most,” Burkholder said. “He is so regimented in what he does. He’s in here at 6 a.m., he’s the last guy out at night. He’ll take rehab like that. He and I talked about how ‘Listen, you’ve got a schedule in season where you get treatment at this time, film at this time, practice at this time. And that’s how rehab’s got to be.’ And that’s how it’s always been with him and it will.
“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.”
