When Patrick Mahomes fell to the ground clutching his left leg in Week 15 last December, you could hear the entire GEHA Field gasp and then come to a pin-drop silent. It meant the end of the season, not just for the franchise quarterback but for the Kansas City Chiefs team. But his March 11 appearance at T-Mobile Center to watch the BYU men’s basketball team’s AJ Dybansta take on West Virginia in the second round of the Big 12 tournament stirred the pot.

He had some limp but did not have braces on, giving Kansas City some hope. Today, he confirmed his redemption arc’s trajectory with an Instagram video.

“Day by Day! Felt Great being able to throw the ball around today,” Mahomes wrote on his story.

KC’s No. 15 was back at his fitness instructor Bobby Stroupe’s indoor facility, doing throwing drills where he took three steps back before throwing the ball straight ahead. His step-back motion looked similar to what it did before he tore his ACL and LCL in his left leg.

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What makes this latest throwing video significant is not the arm strength, but the foot plant.

Delivering a ball puts rotational stress on the knee, the same joint under repair. But Mahomes isn’t just a pocket passer waiting to flick screens; he moves, resets, and improvises on the ground whenever he can. Throwing at three months with just a knee brace tells you Mahomes’ knee is responding to his required play style.

But when the limp at the Big 12 tournament first triggered concern, a board-certified surgeon had offered a measured assessment.

“In the video, Mahomes appears to be limping a little, which is not unheard of at 3 months post-op,” Dr. Yair Kissin wrote. “He’s not using a walking aid, which is great to see, and he’s fully weight-bearing. He’s a little stiff when he sits down, but that’s only because we are looking at him through a lens of recovery. We all sit down like that sometimes. I don’t see anything unusual.”

While the practice session did not reach Stroupe’s usual drill level for Mahomes, this was still a leap for the quarterback since he last appeared at T-Mobile Center. An ACL tear requires at least six to nine months to repair. But Mahomes is already vying to appear in the Chiefs’ Week 1 game. And he looks right on track, see for yourself:

Mahomes’ injury, a torn ACL and LCL suffered during a Week 15 loss to the Chargers in December 2025, ended the Chiefs’ playoff streak under him. Surgery by Dr. Dan Cooper in Dallas came roughly 24 hours later. Now his 2026 season depends on how fast he can recover.

Mahomes has always bounced back from injury setbacks

This isn’t the first time Patrick Mahomes has treated a recovery timeline as a suggestion. In 2019, he dislocated his right patella against the Denver Broncos mid-game and had the kneecap relocated on the sideline. Mahomes missed two games, returned to finish the regular season, and won Super Bowl LIV.

In the 2022 postseason, Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain in the divisional round, missing a chunk of the first half. He returned in the second half and helped carve out a win.

That same postseason, he re-aggravated his ankle in the first half, but stayed in the game to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles and win Super Bowl LVII. The current rehab followed the same aggressive pattern Mahomes has displayed throughout his career.

The recovery seems to be tracking ahead of schedule, but that’s not the only update out of KC. Patrick Mahomes is returning to a 6-11 team that missed the playoffs for the first time under his watch. To fix that, head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach need to bring in weapons that can ease Mahomes’ pressure. And they might just have found a first-round candidate.

Kansas City eyes big offensive addition for Patrick Mahomes

USC wide receiver Makai Lemon is now among the most coveted players in the receiver draft in 2026. The Chiefs had already met Lemon at the NFL Combine, and KC seems to be scheduling a top-30 visit before the draft. During his final college campaign with the Trojans, the 21-year-old had 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns in 12 games, closing it out with the 2025 Biletnikoff Award.

He was the first-ranked receiver prospect in this class in yards per route run (3.22), explosive catch rate (28.7%), and tackle-avoided rate (26.6), according to CBS Sports. Those are Big Ten production figures versus live competition that prove Lemon does not need a favorable alignment to have a rep won.

Now, Lemon is notably a first-round prospect, and the Chiefs hold the 9th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. One could make the case that they can use this pick to go for a running back to save their ground game. People can also assume KC doesn’t need to draft an elite receiver because Andy Reid is creative enough to scheme around average ones. But that assumption has already been tested and failed.

The argument at the time Tyreek Hill left Kansas City in 2022 was that the system used by Reid was in a position to endure the loss. Mecole Hardman, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore received the opportunity, but none of them stuck. Valdes-Scantling recorded 687 yards in 2022 but was a non-factor within two years. Hardman did not grow into a regular starter even after four seasons in Kansas City, and Moore was cut without ever becoming a factor.

The offense managed to survive that stretch only because tight end Travis Kelce was still elite, and Mahomes is covering the gaps himself. But by 2025, that margin was gone.

Rashee Rice was suspended for six games to start the season and was put on the season-ending IR with a concussion after Week 15. Rice also finds himself in another legal tussle, forcing the Chiefs to enter 2026 with another possible suspension.

Meanwhile, Xavier Worthy got his shoulder dislocated during a collision with Kelce in the season opener and was out two games. It is not going to be a luxury pick to draft Lemon at No. 9. It would be a concession that this front office has been tardy in addressing its roster needs.

Patrick Mahomes throwing three months after his surgery is the news that the Chiefs Kingdom needs. It is good to see a franchise quarterback recovering faster than expected. However, having him rejoin the same drained roster will only be a waste of his prime.