- May 21, 2026
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Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has said throughout the offseason that his goal is to be ready for the start of the regular season after suffering a torn ACL in December.
He's officially taken another step in that endeavor, as he's been medically cleared to fully participate in training camp.
Mahomes said in his Friday press conference that he found out he'd been cleared two days ago. But while he's looking forward to practicing, he's not making any declarations about his Week 1 availability quite yet.
"Just looking at the dates, and there were certain checkpoints I had to get to, to get to this point," Mahomes said. "And this is just another checkpoint on the schedule. So you have to continue to work. It’s not like it’s over and I’m going to be able to play a game tomorrow. You’ve got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice and prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors, everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before — if not better — and I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games."
Mahomes said he's doing much better when it comes to changing directions than he was during the offseason program when he last spoke to the media.
"That’s the stuff I had to prove to the doctors and the coaches and everybody like that to be at this point," Mahomes said. "So, it’s a long process. The process isn’t over. It’ll be something I’ll probably deal with for the next few years of my career and throughout the rest of my career. But you have to stay on top of that stuff. But I feel comfortable now of being able to go out there and run the offense the way the offense is supposed to be run."
Both Reid and Mahomes talked about taking things day by day when it comes to the quarterback practicing, as he's still coming off of a major injury. But Mahomes wants to be fully immersed in whatever the Chiefs are doing to get himself ready for September.
"I want him to call [the offense in practice] like he’s going to call it in the regular season," Mahomes said. "So, whatever that is, that’s going to be the best way for me to prepare myself. I can always let him know if I need to get pulled back or anything like that. But how I am as a competitor, I want to go out there and test it. You want to test it now in training camp, see where you’re at, so when you get to the regular season, it’s almost a little bit easier because you’ve kind of been through it all. That's how he runs training camp.
"I don’t think he’s going to take it light on anyone — including me. And then, I’m going to go out there and see what I can do."
Mahomes usually plays in preseason games, but that could change this year given the status of his knee.
"I think we’ll just see when we get there," Mahomes said. "I’m a competitor, so gameday, I’m going to want to be out there. But I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important. But, we will see. The coaches and docs will kind of make that decision for me. But I’ll prepare myself like I”m going to play. And if I’m just doing a very hard warm-up, I will take that as serious as playing in the preseason game. It’s a couple weeks away, but it feels like a long way away. I’m going to go with the next step of just going out with the rookies this week."
After a grueling process during the offseason, Mahomes is glad to be back out of the training room full-time.
"I’m excited just to be able to play football," Mahomes said. "I’ve been seeing cinderblock walls rehabbing every day in Kansas City. So, now to get to be on the practice field with my teammates and my brothers, it’s going to be a lot of fun."
He's officially taken another step in that endeavor, as he's been medically cleared to fully participate in training camp.
Mahomes said in his Friday press conference that he found out he'd been cleared two days ago. But while he's looking forward to practicing, he's not making any declarations about his Week 1 availability quite yet.
"Just looking at the dates, and there were certain checkpoints I had to get to, to get to this point," Mahomes said. "And this is just another checkpoint on the schedule. So you have to continue to work. It’s not like it’s over and I’m going to be able to play a game tomorrow. You’ve got to continue to work and get better and better and go throughout practice and prove to the coaches, prove to the doctors, everybody that I’m the same quarterback I was before — if not better — and I can go out there and take care of myself and win football games."
Mahomes said he's doing much better when it comes to changing directions than he was during the offseason program when he last spoke to the media.
"That’s the stuff I had to prove to the doctors and the coaches and everybody like that to be at this point," Mahomes said. "So, it’s a long process. The process isn’t over. It’ll be something I’ll probably deal with for the next few years of my career and throughout the rest of my career. But you have to stay on top of that stuff. But I feel comfortable now of being able to go out there and run the offense the way the offense is supposed to be run."
Both Reid and Mahomes talked about taking things day by day when it comes to the quarterback practicing, as he's still coming off of a major injury. But Mahomes wants to be fully immersed in whatever the Chiefs are doing to get himself ready for September.
"I want him to call [the offense in practice] like he’s going to call it in the regular season," Mahomes said. "So, whatever that is, that’s going to be the best way for me to prepare myself. I can always let him know if I need to get pulled back or anything like that. But how I am as a competitor, I want to go out there and test it. You want to test it now in training camp, see where you’re at, so when you get to the regular season, it’s almost a little bit easier because you’ve kind of been through it all. That's how he runs training camp.
"I don’t think he’s going to take it light on anyone — including me. And then, I’m going to go out there and see what I can do."
Mahomes usually plays in preseason games, but that could change this year given the status of his knee.
"I think we’ll just see when we get there," Mahomes said. "I’m a competitor, so gameday, I’m going to want to be out there. But I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important. But, we will see. The coaches and docs will kind of make that decision for me. But I’ll prepare myself like I”m going to play. And if I’m just doing a very hard warm-up, I will take that as serious as playing in the preseason game. It’s a couple weeks away, but it feels like a long way away. I’m going to go with the next step of just going out with the rookies this week."
After a grueling process during the offseason, Mahomes is glad to be back out of the training room full-time.
"I’m excited just to be able to play football," Mahomes said. "I’ve been seeing cinderblock walls rehabbing every day in Kansas City. So, now to get to be on the practice field with my teammates and my brothers, it’s going to be a lot of fun."