Stephania Bell takes you inside the anatomy of Patrick Mahomes’ injury (3:30)
Using Virtual Medicine, Stephania Bell explains the details of Patrick Mahomes’ injury. (3:30)
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Nate TaylorMar 25, 2026, 03:39 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs’ star quarterback, posted a short video clip Wednesday of himself in a training session where he dropped back and threw the ball, the first public footage of him doing so since he had surgery in December to repair the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee.
Mahomes posted the four-second clip on his Instagram account. His movement, doing the dropback at a moderate tempo, demonstrated the progress that he has made during his rehab. Wearing a compression sleeve on his left knee, Mahomes was able to plant his left foot — allowing him to put some of his weight on his left knee — and throw the ball, which appeared to be an intermediate pass inside a training gym, while executing the proper follow-through.
“Day by Day!” Mahomes wrote his Instagram story. “Felt Great being able to throw the ball around today!”
— ESPN (@espn) March 25, 2026
Wednesday’s checkpoint for Mahomes was significant for him — and for the Chiefs — because he had his surgery 100 days ago. Dr. Dan Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys‘ head team physician, performed the surgery back in December. During the procedure, Dr. Cooper also repaired the torn LCL in Mahomes’ left knee, a league source told ESPN. Mahomes sustained his injury the previous day in the Chiefs’ loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the quarterback falling to the turf after his knee buckled when he rolled to his right while in an effort to rally the team with less than two minutes remaining.
A month following the surgery, Mahomes, in his first public comments, said his hope is to be in uniform when the Chiefs play their season opener, which could be Sept. 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, the reigning NFL champion, or Sept. 13 or 14.
“The doctors said I could, but I can’t predict what happens throughout the process.” Mahomes said then. “That’s the goal, to play Week 1 and have no restrictions. You want to be out there healthy and give us the best chance to win. I hope to do some things in OTAs and training camp and be able to do things there.”
Based on Wednesday’s video clip, the Chiefs are optimistic that Mahomes is on track to participate — even in a limited capacity — in the team’s voluntary offseason practices, which are expected to start in May. Mahomes has spent much of his rehab working with Julie Frymyer, one of the Chiefs’ top athletic trainers.
“He’s around here all the time,” coach Andy Reid said last month of Mahomes. “He spends a ton of time here, seven hours a day. He’s in there cranking away and making progress every day. It’s great to see. Julie grinds on him and makes sure he stays on task and challenges him. He keeps showing up. That’s about half the battle on these things when you have these injuries.
“It’s not going to be a pleasant thing. Every day, you’ve got to fight through it and you’ve got to attack the challenge of the workout and rehab. He’s doing a great job with that.”
