Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes cleared for full training camp practice without limitations

He's back and good to go.

Despite tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) on December 14 and undergoing reconstructive surgery on December 15, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will practice at training camp without limitations.

"He's been cleared to go ahead and participate full," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. "Pat's doing great."

Mahomes officially received clearance from Dr. Dan Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys' team doctor who specializes in LCL tears, two days before the Chiefs quarterbacks and rookies reported to camp on July 24.

"This is another checkpoint on the schedule," Mahomes said.

During minicamp, Mahomes participated in 7-on-7 drills but not team drills. His practice regimen for training camp, however, will not be any different.

"I feel comfortable now being able to go out there and run the offense the way the offense is supposed to be ran," he said.

Mahomes will begin camp wearing a knee brace, which he did during minicamp and also at Texas Tech, but was not told that he must wear it.

Words of Wisdom

During the lengthy rehab process, Mahomes texted quarterback Tom Brady, who also tore his knee during his ninth NFL season, asking how his rehabilitation impacted specific quarterback movements.

"He just talked about the process of it and how he changed little things here and there to make himself even better," Mahomes exclusively shared. "That's stuff that I'll continue to work on throughout this year and the rest of my career so that I can hopefully prolong my career to be as long as his was."

Along with Brady, Mahomes also reached out to former teammate Tyrann Mathieu, who suffered the same injury — torn ACL and LCL — that Mahomes did.

"I talked to all those guys," he said. "You just want to learn what they did to get back to the top level."

But the most helpful person was Zach Ertz.

Ertz tore his ACL on December 7 — seven days before Mahomes suffered the same fate. He was also coached by Mahomes' college coach, Kliff Kingsbury, while with the Arizona Cardinals from 2021 to 2022.

"To this day I still talk a lot to Zach Ertz," Mahomes said. "It became a little bit of a competition where we were at on a day-to-day process."

They even sent videos back and forth to compare their recovery and push each other.

"That kind of keeps you motivated," he said. "Having someone just as competitive as I am that's kind of going through the same thing was something that kind of kept me going."

Preseason and Regular-Season Goals

Mahomes said he is "optimistic" about being ready for the Week One Monday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos.

As for his status for the three preseason games, that remains uncertain.

"We'll see when we get there," Mahomes said. "I'm going to want to be out there, but I understand the process of getting myself ready to play in the regular season is more important."

During the regular season, Mahomes wants to get the ball out more quickly and also run less frequently than he did in 2025. He set a career high with 422 rushing attempts last year, even though he missed three games.

"I ran a little too much last season," he said.

The Chiefs have a lot invested in Mahomes — literally and figuratively.

They rewarded him in June with an eight-year, $504.75 million contract extension, representing the first time an NFL player has received a contract worth more than half a billion dollars.

That expensive player will be a scrutinized one during camp.

"He'll have plenty of eyes on him from coaches to trainers to doctors," Reid said.