Patrick Mahomes remains on course to be ready for the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 1 Monday night opener against the AFC West champion Denver Broncos following his season-ending ACL tear.
"That's my goal," Mahomes said Wednesday during an interview with Yahoo Sports. "I've said that since the beginning is being ready to go Week 1. I can't predict the future and I know that it's a long process. It's not just my decision, but at the same time I'm going to give the doctors and the coaches every single opportunity I can to let me be out there Week 1.
"I don't want to miss that game [against the Broncos] because that's the team that won the division while we were gone and you want to be out there and ready to go with your teammates. I'll give every single thing I can to be out there Week 1, and hopefully the doctors and the coaches give me the green light and I'm able to go out there with my guys and compete against one of the best teams in the league."
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At every step of the process, Mahomes has received positive marks. When the NFL schedule was released with the Chiefs opening up with back-to-back prime-time games, it underscored the optimism surrounding the MVP QB's availability to open the 2026 campaign.
Mahomes participated in offseason workouts but was held out of full-team drills. While acknowledging recovery from such a knee injury is a "long process," the signal-caller is confident with where he's at with training camp approaching.
"After the season ended, it was just about getting back out there and try and do whatever I can to be able to participate in OTAs, which I did, and be ready to go for training camp," Mahomes said. "I know it's a long process, but you have these end goals. I'm just trying to achieve those end goals by dominating every single day. We've had a great recovery program going these last few months and we're in a good spot. Now it's just about trying to continue to do that so that I'm ready to go when the season comes around."
The Chiefs open training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo., with rookies reporting on July 24 and veterans on the 28th.