NFL Rumors: Patrick Mahomes Could Have ‘Good Chance’ To Play In AFC Championship Game After Head Injury

Patrick Mahomes still has a good chance of playing in next week’s AFC Championship Game even after suffering a head injury in Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, a former NFL team doctor says.

Mahomes was left wobbly after the hit, needing help to walk to the sidelines and being ruled out for the remainder of the contest. With the Chiefs emerging victorious, they are now headed to the AFC Championship game and will host the Buffalo Bills. However, whether Mahomes is able to take the field is still up in the air.

David Chao wrote in Outkick that the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback may have avoided the worst after being taken down hard in the third quarter of his team’s divisional round matchup against the Browns. The former team doctor for the San Diego Chargers wrote that a player who suffers a potential concussion generally will miss the next week’s game, though he stressed that this is “not the absolute rule.”

Chao added that Mahomes will have a full seven days to clear the league-mandated protocol, but believes he could stand a decent chance of being able to suit up for the contest.

“By video, Mahomes did not seem to be hit directly in the head but rather in the shoulder and landed on his chest with a big collision,” he wrote. “He certainly was wobbly getting up which necessitates the head injury check and he was subsequently ruled out with concussion.”

Patrick Mahomes won’t return to today’s game with a concussion pic.twitter.com/MeQUq1bq7j

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 17, 2021

Chao added that if it is ruled not to be a concussion and has no symptoms through Sunday or Monday, he can immediately move into clearance protocol and would be through the series of steps in time to play.

There were no clear answers to any of those outstanding questions immediately, and some NFL insiders stressed that the situation remains fluid. Washington Post reporter Mark Maske took to Twitter to add a measure of caution, noting that it would be impossible to tell at this point what the coming days will bring.

“The Chiefs have no idea if Patrick Mahomes will play next Sunday,” he tweeted. “Patrick Mahomes has no idea. There is no way for them to know. The decision is not theirs. It’s an independent medical decision. So speculation by outsiders about what they think is completely pointless.”

It was not clear when the Chiefs might be able to offer an update on the status of Mahomes for next week’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills.