ESPN’s Adam Schefter thinks “it will be a surprise” if Patrick Mahomes (knee) is not ready for the start of the 2026 season.

16 December 2025

Schefter cites the speed with which Mahomes got his torn ACL and LCL repaired — Monday, the day after it happened — as a major reason behind this. He also notes the timeline of nine months would put Mahomes in line to play in Week 2. “You know he’s going to have the absolute finest resources, care, attention, to bring him along,” Schefter continues. “He’s already set in to motion the chain of events that will bring him back sooner.” We wouldn’t be surprised if Mahomes is playing that early — see how quickly Joe Burrow came back this year from his turf toe against the initial diagnosis — but we also wouldn’t be surprised if Mahomes wasn’t quite the same player from the jump, especially as a scrambler, while he re-acclimates to what he can trust with his surgically-repaired knee.