Patrick Mahomes’ season came to a sudden halt in a 16–13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback suffered multiple torn ligaments in his left knee. He has since undergone successful surgery, and although for most quarterbacks, a torn ACL and LCL means a year of uncertainty, for Mahomes, it’s apparently a closer deadline to beat.

“I don’t remember the last time that I remember hearing about a player tearing his ACL on Sunday and having surgery on Monday,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said, taking to his X account. “That was extreme. That was immediate. And that sent a message to me that Patrick Mahomes already is locked in on getting back for opening day 2026.

“I’m not a doctor, but usually when players tear their ACL, they wait a couple of weeks, wait for the swelling to go down, and then have the surgery,” Schefter said. “Again, I’d be curious to hear more about this, and I’m going to make some calls this week, but it’s amazing to me that he did it right away. Like, I don’t hear that very often, if at all.” That urgency matters when placed against the league’s calendar, and more importantly, the recovery timeline.

“Now, he had his ACL repaired. He had his LCL repaired. Two different ligaments… And now, the typical timeline for an injury like this is nine months to recover from. He had surgery on Monday, December 15th. Nine months from December 15th is September 15th. The season starts about a week before.”

Translation: Mahomes’ injury essentially rules him out for the entire 2026 offseason program, with the expectation that he could return at the start of the regular season. The opener is scheduled for September 10. And based on everything he’s seen so far, Schefter explained why he’s optimistic about Mahomes’ return as early as possible:

“Patrick Mahomes is different. He’s built different. You know that he’s going to have the absolute finest resources, care, attention to bring him along.”

The injury itself came in the closing minutes of the Week 15 game, with Kansas City desperately trying to keep its playoff hopes alive. Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket under pressure from Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand late in the fourth quarter. As he planted his left foot and threw the ball away to avoid the sack, his knee buckled awkwardly, and he went down in pain.

Fast forward, and following his surgery, the Chiefs confirmed that Mahomes “will begin his rehab process immediately.”

And whether Mahomes is back for the 2026 season opener will ultimately come down to how his rehab progresses, something both the Chiefs and their fanbase are clearly hoping goes perfectly. After all, his injury mirrors the one Tom Brady suffered back in 2008. And once Brady recovered, he went on to win four more Super Bowls.

Patrick Mahomes’ injury coincided with Tom Brady’s

“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,” Andy Reid said, addressing Patrick Mahomes’ injury, and hyping up his quarterback.

Reid didn’t name names, but it’s hard not to hear Tom Brady between the lines. The parallels are hard to ignore. Both Brady and Mahomes suffered major knee injuries in their ninth NFL season. Both went down a year after losing a Super Bowl. And both already had three Super Bowl rings by the time the injury hit.

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Where the timelines differ is in the moment it happened. Brady’s injury came in the 2008 season opener against the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. Midway through the first quarter, a hit from Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard ended not just his night. But his entire season as well. His team later confirmed Brady had torn both his ACL and MCL, which required surgery and snapped his streak of 111 consecutive starts.

Mahomes, meanwhile, went down in Week 15. That allowed him to play the bulk of the season and means he’ll miss only the final three games of the 2025 regular season, as the Chiefs are out of the playoff race. And if there’s one part of Brady’s story Mahomes wouldn’t mind copying, it’s what came next. Brady went on to win four more Super Bowl rings after his ACL injury. Mahomes already has three. Whether he follows that same path is the real question, and the one that the league will watch closely.