Chiefs’ Mahomes practice as usual with sprained ankles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes completed a morning walkaround Wednesday and intends to practice as usual, raising expectations that the All-Pro quarterback won’t get through in this weekend’s AFC title game his sprained right ankle being sprained against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mahomes was injured late in the first quarter of their division win over Jacksonville last Saturday when Jaguar’s pass rusher Arden Key landed on him. X-rays taken during the game were negative, and Mahomes returned in the second half to lead them to a 27-20 win and a berth in the Chiefs’ fifth straight conference title game.

“We’ll see about that during the week. I haven’t gotten around to going out and practicing and getting into those positions,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “I’ve done limited things in a small box of what I can do but I’m going to keep pushing today and tomorrow and again tomorrow so as not to make the injury worse but see what I can do.”

Mahomes said the injury was similar to one he endured earlier in the 2019 season when he came back the following week to throw four touchdown passes in a win over the Raiders. The only difference is that it’s the opposite hock.

It’s also not as bad as a toe injury Mahomes suffered earlier in his career.

“He had a couple of injuries in college that he struggled through,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid. “In the NFL, in all the games you play, you very rarely get to this point without having something. That’s how it goes.”

Reid said he doesn’t expect to hold Mahomes back in training this week.

“Most likely he won’t do just a little bit. I don’t think I need to go there with that,” Reid said. “Maybe I need to pull him back a bit. But knowing him, I think he’ll try to do everything and we’ll see what he does.

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