Jason Kelce is not buying the severity of Patrick Mahomes‘ high-ankle injury, comparing the Kansas City Chiefs star’s situation to Michael Jordan.
Mahomes suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns, and was subsequently replaced by Carson Wentz, who finished the game in place of the star quarterback. Despite being diagnosed with a mild high ankle sprain, Mahomes played in the following week’s game against the Houston Texas.
It appeared as if Mahomes was no worse for wear, leading Kansas City to a 27-19 win, completing 28-of-41 pass attempts for 260 yards and one touchdown. Because of how Mahomes is playing despite his injury, Kelce believes the 29-year-old is playing up his injury.
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“Yeah, I’ve hear this tale before,” Kelce said before ‘Monday Night Football’ between the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers. “Unfortunately two years ago he had an ankle injury, everyone was talking about it, didn’t seem to slow him down much.”
The Philadelphia Eagles legend continued his criticism of Mahomes’ injury, comparing it to when Jordan suffered from the flu during the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. Despite suffering from the illness, Jordan scored 38 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out five assists, stole three balls and blocked one shot in 44 minutes of action.
Kelce claims to be seeing the same type of of mettle from Mahomes though he is not a fan of how much the injury is being spoken about, especially since the star is seemingly playing to his abilities.
Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain against the Houston Texans and has continued to played (
Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
“I mean the last game, first drive he had a 25-yard scramble into the end zone,” Kelce continued. “I feel like seeing Mahomes with an ankle injury on the report is similar to seeing Michael Jordan listed as he’s got the flu. What are we talking about?
“This guy seems to get better somehow with this stuff. I’m not buying any of it – he looked just fine out there this weekend.” And while pundits are wondering just how severe Mahomes’ injury is since he’s playing, the star downplayed any talk of the high ankle sprain and instead praised his teammates for pushing him through.
“I ask a lot from the guys around me and, so, I feel like if I’m going to ask them to play through pain, if I’m going to ask them to play through little nicks and bruises and stuff like that, I’ve got to do it,” he said after the win.
Even Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was shocked at how mobile Mahomes was, despite being just weeks out from his ankle injury. “I didn’t think he’d be able to get out and run like that or would run like that, but he did a great job with all that,” Reid admitted.
“So tough mentally and physically, so you just get used to it. Most guys don’t come back from that like he did, but he set his mind to it and then he jumped in that training room and stayed in there.”
The Chiefs are back in action against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day, giving Mahomes another matchup to test his ankle.
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