Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid backed Patrick Mahomes to recover from a season-ending knee injury on Monday as the quarterback prepared to undergo surgery later this week. Mahomes suffered a torn left knee ligament on Sunday as the Chiefs slumped to a 16-13 home defeat against the Los Angeles Chargers, sealing their elimination from the postseason for the first time in a decade.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call on Monday, Reid said Mahomes was travelling to Texas to seek a second opinion on his injury from Dallas Cowboys head team physician Daniel Cooper, with surgery expected later this week. But Reid said he was optimistic Mahomes, 30, would make a full recovery from the first significant injury of his career.
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“He’ll attack it, just like he does everything else,” Reid said of Mahomes’ looming rehab. “There have been some pretty good quarterbacks who have had the same injury, and they’ve done pretty well after they came back. He’ll get after it, and he’s got good people here to rehab him. He’ll be right on top of all of that.”
In a social media post on Sunday, Mahomes vowed to return “stronger than ever.” “Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “Not going to lie it hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again … I will be back stronger than ever.”
Reid said he had spoken to Mahomes twice since Sunday’s injury. “He’s in a good place,” Reid said. “He always feels like he let people down. But then he comes back. And he’s ready for the challenge ahead, which is what is really right now. He’s just got to get through surgery, and then move on from there. I know he’ll come out on the strong end of this thing.”
“You never know on these rehabs how they go. I just know he’s got good people that he’ll be working with, and I know how aggressive he is on things. As long as the surgery goes well, as expected, then I would expect a fairly quick recovery just because of those factors.”
Reid meanwhile said the Chiefs were determined to make a strong finish to the season as they faced up to being out of playoff contention by mid-December. “I’m not happy about it. Neither is anybody here,” Reid said of the Chiefs’ poor season. “We strive for excellence. We try to do that every year. Things happen, though, in this league. There’s a lot of parity, and sometimes you end up on the short end of it.”
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