Chiefs GM made it sound like Patrick Mahomes really will be ready for Week 1

[ASFN Admin]

At face value, after suffering a torn ACL in mid-December, few reasonable people would expect Patrick Mahomes to be ready for the 2026 NFL season roughly just eight months later. That sort of quick turnaround feels absurd for a regular non-professional athlete, let alone a person playing a sport as dangerous as professional football.

That's why recent glowing comments from Chiefs general manager Brett Veach about Mahomes' ongoing recovery will raise some eyebrows.

In a Monday interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Veach was over the moon about how well Mahomes' recovery process has been coming along. This, after Chiefs head coach Andy Reid proclaimed that Mahomes will be able to participate in organized team activities, albeit in a more limited capacity, over the weekend. Never mind that Mahomes previously posted a very promising throwing update right as the NFL announced its 2026 season opener featuring the Seattle Seahawks.

Hmm. If I didn't know any better, despite everything he's endured, it sure seems like Mahomes really will be ready to play in Week 1, after all.

Here's exactly what Veach said about Mahomes and his ongoing recovery:

“I will say this, I think it wouldn’t surprise you guys, the way it’s been really inspiring to just see, in my mind, I’ve been there before with Pat [Mahomes], he had that dislocated knee [in 2019] and worked his tail off, and came back in three weeks. I knew this bump in the road wouldn’t slow him down at all," Veach said. “But, I mean, this guy has been in the building. Especially for a player who has accomplished everything, can do anything he wants, he can hire his own trainers, he can be wherever he wants. He’s in our building every single day. And even when he goes away for a few days, say to Dallas for a weekend with his family, he takes one of our trainers with him.

“So, needless to say, he’s way ahead of schedule. I think the biggest challenge we’re going to have is protecting him against himself, because I’m sure when we get to St. Joseph, Missouri, for training camp, he’s going to want to be full go. But we’re going to have to hold him back a little. And, again, I don’t want to put a timetable on it. But I think you guys know the kind of person and competitor Pat is, and I would just say, we’re in a really good place right now.”

It's that last part that says so much to me. I'm not surprised that Mahomes is the kind of competitor who gives it his all in his injury rehabilitation, like almost no one else. So, it speaks volumes that the Chiefs and Veach feel they will likely have to ask him to pace himself and not overdo it at some point. After all, the franchise quarterback and organization clearly have a larger goal in mind here.

For a three-time Super Bowl MVP like Mahomes, it's not about being ready for Chiefs training camp in late July. It's about being ready for the regular season, for the actual games.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Chiefs GM praised Patrick Mahomes' injury recovery like he'll play Week 1

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