Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes gives injury update, 'goal' for return to field

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is recovering from a torn ACL and LCL he suffered in his left knee during his team's Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2025 NFL season.

The 30-year-old quarterback continues to hope he will be able to take the field in Week 1 of the 2026 campaign when his team faces the Denver Broncos.

"That's my goal," Mahomes said on a July 15 episode of Yahoo Sports Daily.

Mahomes reiterated that playing in Kansas City's season opener has long been his target since originally suffering the major knee injury. That was part of the reason he had surgery to repair the maladies just a day after the injury occurred.

"I've said that since the beginning [the goal] is being ready to go Week 1," Mahomes explained. "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."

Mahomes further detailed he was specifically looking forward to playing the Broncos after they won the AFC West and emerged as the conference's No. 1 seed last season.

"I don't want to miss that game 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," Mahomes said. "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."

Mahomes and the Chiefs have routinely posted updates about his recovery during the 2026 NFL offseason. He has posted several videos of himself throwing while coach Andy Reid has expressed optimism about his quarterback's recovery during the team's offseason activities.

And Wednesday, Mahomes said his recovery was "going good" with the start of training camp approaching.

"It's a long process. I think that's what I've learned throughout this entire thing," Mahomes said. "So all I can do is be as great as I can be every single day. You just have to maximize that day and slowly get better and better as the year goes on.

"I'm excited to get back to training camp," he added. "I'm excited to get the guys back around. I've kind of been in the building in Kansas City by myself. Just have the guys back and getting to be on the football field will get me going and get me ready for the season."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes gives injury update, 'goal' for return to field