The Kansas City Chiefs' 2026 season hinges on how much time quarterback Patrick Mahomes misses after recovering from ACL surgery.
There's been varying timelines reported on exactly how long he'll be out, ranging from him being ready by Week 1 to him missing the first half of the year.
While ACL recoveries typically have a 12-month recovery timeline (Mahomes had surgery on Dec. 15), there's optimism among the Chiefs that he won't need that long to get back to full strength.
During a recent appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show," NFL insider Jay Glazer of Fox Sports gave a promising update on where Mahomes stands in his recovery, giving Chiefs fans a glimmer of hope that their franchise QB will be ready to play a lot sooner than most initially thought.
"His pain threshold is different, his work ethic is different," Glazer said. "So at first they were like, ‘Oh, you know, start of the season.' I would probably hedge on him being [back] sooner than that - by far - because he just attacks things."
Glazer, who owns and operates opened the Unbreakable Performance Center in West Hollywood, is more versed than most in athlete recovery and rehabilitation.
He noted that Mahomes isn't the typical NFL player on the mend from a serious injury, and because of how he's attacking his recovery, Glazer believes Mahomes is ahead of schedule compared to where most would be in his condition.
"The initial reports were kind of on the fringe there, but I want to tell you, Patrick's different," Glazer said. "He got [surgery] before it swelled up. So that was on a Tuesday. I believe it was either Thursday or Friday that week, he was already in the Chiefs' training room doing rehab. And he had already got his knee bending at 90 degrees at that point. He's just different, he heals differently."
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