After appearing on the Kansas City Chiefs’ injury report for the past three weeks while still logging full practices, Mahomes (ankle) was not listed on the report in Week 12.
Fresh off their first loss of the season to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs (9-1) are set to travel to Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers (3-7) on Sunday. Expected to have the healthiest version of Mahomes fans have seen in a few weeks, Kansas City enters as 10.5-point road favorites with a 76% chance to win, per ESPN BET.
During the team’s final full practice session on Friday, a local beat reporter noticed something different about Mahomes’ previously ailing left ankle.
“Probably expected since Patrick Mahomes is no longer on the official injury report, but his ankle doesn’t appear to be getting any extra attention now,” the Kansas City Star’s Jesse Newell wrote on X.
Newell noted the lack of medical tape around Mahomes’ left ankle and cleat compared to a photo captured at practice weeks prior on Nov. 2.
The 29-year-old Mahomes initially injured his left ankle back in Week 8, when he tweaked it late in the 27-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. A week later against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he appeared to aggravate the injury.
“I kind of awkwardly rolled the ankle a little bit,” Mahomes told reporters after the Nov. 4 overtime game. “I think it hurt more because it’s the same ankle I hurt last week, so it scared me a little bit. But once I took my breath and calmed down a little bit, it ended up not being too bad.”