The NFL season always ends with franchise stars leaving the field on the injured list. Every single contender watches their dreams of a Super Bowl crash and burn because of a bad step taken by a franchise quarterback or a wide receiver straining a hamstring. There are a ton of big names throughout the league that are still recovering from devastating injuries sustained during the 2025 season as they report for training camp. Here is the injured list that includes some of the more prominent names in the NFL.
Top of the injured list: Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes is probably the biggest injury story going into training camp. He was put on the injured list when he tore his ACL and LCL in December of 2025 in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Given the severity of that injury, there is really no reasonable excuse for Mahomes to be throwing the ball and participating in offseason activities already. General manager Brett Veach and Andy Reid say that he is ahead of schedule on his recovery. Kansas City will proceed with caution in OTAs and training camp, but it seems almost certain that Mahomes will be ready for Week 1, which should bring joy to the rest of the AFC West.
Is Christian McCaffrey off the injured list?
The cycle of finding Christian McCaffrey on the injured list is seemingly over. This time, he looks set to enter a full season with no major injury for the first time in a couple of years. After he was plagued by Achilles tendinitis and PCL injury that missed most of the 2024 season and then had a back injury late in 2025. McCaffrey was taking part in all offseason activities in May 2026, restriction-free. This news has to be incredible news for San Francisco, as in McCaffrey healthy, this team looks like it was genetically engineered to spite defensive coordinators for 3 hours.
George Kittle is optimistic about his return to play
While McCaffrey may not find himself on the injured list much more, teammate George Kittle cannot say the same.Kittle is still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in San Francisco’s Wild Card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in January. Luckily for theSan Francisco 49ers, he reportedly had a “clean” tear higher up towards the soleus, allowing for no complications and hopefully a shorter recovery time. Kittle has been out of his crutches and boot and on to the weight room, roughly four months post surgery, and working ahead for training camp. Kittle remains confident about Week 1 for Kittle, but the 49ers are preparing other backs nonetheless.
Bo Nix back behind center in 2026?
Despite another ankle surgery at the end of April, the Denver Broncos do not seem to be overly worried about Bo Nix’s availability for training camp. According to head coach Sean Payton on May 9, “that was an anticipated follow-up to clean things up, and he is ahead of schedule in his rehab.” The second-year QB is said to be “somewhat likely to practice during Denver’s June minicamp” and is still expected to be full speed by training camp in July. Considering Nix was already looking well, even walking around at The Masters earlier this spring, all signs look promising for the Broncos going into the 2026 season.
Drake Maye’s injury did not require surgery
It seems like Drake Maye has no long-term issue, as he was able to play with the shoulder injury throughout the playoffs. The New England Patriots declared in May that the young signal-caller felt “good” and would not need surgery for the injury he sustained during the AFC Championship Game vs. Denver. Maye threw with a pain-killing injection during Super Bowl LX, although his shoulder pain was noticeable in certain plays. Having taken off this offseason to rest and recover from the injury, Maye has returned to workouts and throwing without limitations entering training camp.
Injury stories always run rampant
With offseason workouts ongoing and training camp nearing, those remaining on the injured list will no doubt be one of the biggest narratives in the NFL over the coming few months. Even though a few guys seem to be on pace, others have long roads back to health ahead of them after the serious injuries they suffered during the 2025 season. The upside of that is that a few of the biggest stars in the league seem to be well ahead of schedule and will most likely be back to play in 2026.