Patrick Mahomes' Secret Objective During Knee Injury Rehab Revealed Ahead of 2026 NFL Season

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes started a grueling rehab following surgery to repair his left ACL and MCL after suffering a knee injury during his team's matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on December 14, 2025.

As he began his recovery, Mahomes had an important goal in mind, per Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star , who provided an inside story on the three-time Super Bowl champion's rehab process.

"After he returned to Kansas City later in the week, he shared with some of those closest to him a more immediate goal for his recovery. He wanted to walk before his baby daughter, 11-month-old Golden. Her first birthday was approaching. She would soon take her first steps, and then a couple of more, and then a few steps would become a run. Mahomes wanted to beat her to it — not only because of the progression of his rehab but because he wanted to keep up with his three kids in their everyday world."

Per McDowell, Mahomes began walking before Golden, "barely" achieving his goal before his daughter started walking herself (and soon running, too).

The question now is whether Mahomes will start the season when the Chiefs host the Denver Broncos on Monday night, Sept. 14.

Per Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix, "all signs are pointing toward" Mahomes being available, per comments made on The Rich Eisen Show .

"I would certainly anticipate that they are going to exercise caution as they are bringing him along, but if you look at the workload he had in camp, he's been taking essentially all the first-team reps," Pelissero said (1:21 mark).

"He has looked from the people on the scene like Patrick Mahomes. I believe that they'll be careful with some things maybe in terms of exposing him in certain areas. But if he's on the field, he's out there not because they think he's 85 percent. No, he's all the way back, even if there's some things in terms of rust and maybe some calls they won't make while he gets his sea legs under him."

Mahomes has expressed confidence in how he's feeling, saying the following on Aug. 25, per ESPN's Nate Taylor .

"Being able to go out there, day after day, and have the grind of a camp, that can even be harder than the [regular] season," Mahomes said. "It's been awesome for me to be able to do that. It's exciting. I didn't know if I was going to have to take days off, but my body has responded the right way.

"Honestly, the more we practice, the better I feel."

That's a great sign for the Chiefs, who are looking to bounce back from a 6-11 season. Kansas City, of course, has usually had great success with Mahomes as QB1, winning three Super Bowls and five AFC titles from 2018-2024.

Last year represented a significant downturn, but a healthy Mahomes being available from Week 1 onward gives Kansas City great hope.