Mahomes Opens Chiefs Season With Rushing Score Nine Months After ACL and LCL Surgery
Patrick Mahomes capped Kansas City's opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run, easing doubts about his recovery from a torn ACL and LCL suffered in December 2025.
Patrick Mahomes needed only one drive to quiet the biggest question surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs. The quarterback capped the team's opening possession of the 2026 season with a 15-yard touchdown run against the Denver Broncos, finishing the zigzagging scramble with a dive into the end zone — exactly nine months after tearing two ligaments in his left knee.
The play carried weight beyond the six points. Mahomes had not been tackled in organized team activities, training camp or the preseason, where he did not appear in any of the Chiefs' three games. The first hit of his comeback had been a psychological hurdle, and the scramble answered it. He showed no hesitation about contact, moved through the Denver defense for meaningful yardage and came away unharmed.
Mahomes, who turns 31 later this week, is wearing a lightweight brace on his left knee. He has said the device does not limit his movement, though he expects to shed it eventually — possibly as soon as late in the current season.
The injury occurred on Dec. 14, 2025, in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers, when Mahomes tore both the anterior cruciate ligament and the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee. He underwent surgery in Dallas the following day, with doctors repairing both ligaments, and began rehabilitation almost immediately.
The quick timeline was deliberate. While many physicians advise players to wait for inflammation to subside before operating, Mahomes has said his doctors pushed for surgery before the swelling took hold. He then committed to an intensive recovery program that included roughly seven hours a day of strength and conditioning work, team meetings and a gradual return to throwing.
Rather than conduct his usual offseason workouts at home in Texas, Mahomes stayed in Kansas City to work with the Chiefs' medical and training staff. After progressing through on-field work, OTAs and training camp, he was cleared to return without restrictions for the opener.
How the 2026 season ultimately unfolds for the Chiefs, and for a quarterback widely regarded as the NFL's best, remains to be seen. But the first drive served as an early statement that Mahomes is not managing his knee cautiously — he is playing on it the way he did before the injury.
Kansas City's season opener against Denver marked the first real test of that recovery, and Mahomes passed it by running the ball into the end zone himself. The Chiefs now move forward with their franchise quarterback healthy and, by his own actions, unafraid of the contact that comes with the position.
