Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been ruled out for the remainder of the Thursday night game against the Denver Broncos after suffering a knee injury in the second quarter. On a fourth down QB sneak near the goal line, Mahomes scurried forward but was quickly buried under the pile. When it cleared, we saw Mahomes laying on one of his linemen pointing to his knee.
As of 10:15 PM ET, the latest media reports state that Mahomes suffered a patella (kneecap) dislocation, but there was no break. However, a league source (likely someone within the Chiefs organization) released an unofficial statement through ESPN insider Adam Schefter.
Despite the multiple medical opinions being offered on Patrick Mahomes’ knee injury tonight, the Chiefs “will not know more until the images,” per league source. MRI will reveal the extent of the damage and how much time Mahomes will miss.
At 11:33 PM ET, a league source told Schefter that, “if there’s no damage, the best case would be around three weeks.” PFN’s own injury expert, Duane Scotti, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, had this to say regarding the injury:
Mahomes had a lateral patellar dislocation that they relocated on the field.
MRI will look to see the integrity of medial patellofemoral ligament. It’s hard to say in terms of timeline. He will most likely be put in a knee brace and will get treatment all this week to decrease the inflammation following the dislocation.
If there is no ligament damage, the course of action will be rehab as tolerated in terms of pain. The rehab will also focus on progressing the range of motion in his knee and building strength so he can return to the field. The timeline will be dependent on how quickly inflammation goes down and if he is able to run on it with confidence and good knee stability.
To get a look at how the injury occurred, check out the video in the tweet below.
Here’s the full sequence of Patrick Mahomes’ fourth-and-1 sneak, where he stays down after the play, obviously injured. #Chiefs #KCvsDEN #TNF
It looks like he points at his right leg, and he reaches toward his knee a bit. Definitely looks hurt. pic.twitter.com/GEEQJgZDJg
— Billy Heyen (@Wheyen3) October 18, 2019
A closer look at the play showed that trainers appeared to pop Mahomes’ knee back in place. Stephania Bell, injury expert for ESPN, had this to say about the trainers popping Mahomes’ knee back into place.
Definitely not ideal. But you can see the medical staff “re-locate” the patella (kneecap) here. As with anything dislocated, restoring normal position immediately decreases pain. Further Imaging to determine full extent of injury (associated soft tissue, etc). More to come.
I’m no doctor, but that looked a lot like they just had to pop Mahomes’ knee(cap) back into place.
Ouch pic.twitter.com/v8nZi3dbuz
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 18, 2019
Dr. David Chao tweeted that it appears to be a significant injury that will require surgery. Traffic appeared to overload his website server, but here is the update from the page.
By video, Patrick Mahomes has a significant knee injury. He appears to dislocate his right patella (kneecap) on the 4th down sneak. The knee was locked where he could not bend or straighten it. TV had good video and even showed the reduction manuever to put the patella back into place. Mahomes has heroically played thru high ankle sprain but he will be Superman if he can return this game.
The medial patellofemoral ligament is typically torn or stretched here. The best the Chiefs can hope for is a return in a few weeks with a brace. This is something that typically needs surgery but sometimes one can put that off to the offseason. Let’s hope his season isn’t over. KNow how he has soldiered on thru the ankle issues, my guess is that he will try but not tionight.
Jene Bramel, injury writer for FootballGuys, had this to say.
Yes, kneecap dislocation for Mahomes. No report on XR findings yet. And MRI likely to come. Bracing possible, surgery possible, depending on imaging findings. Not a large number of comps for players returning from kneecap dislocations. Matthew Stafford missed 4 weeks in 2009.
Matt Moore, who was doing scouting work with the Miami Dolphins just a few months ago and was getting ready to be an assistant coach at for a local high school football team before being signed by the Chiefs, entered the game for Mahomes.
Many on social media began to criticize Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for calling the sneak, especially because Mahomes has been battling an ankle injury the past few weeks. The 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft has never missed a game in his brief NFL career, but it looks like that may be in jeopardy.
Stay tuned here on Pro Football Network for the latest regarding this injury news.