Kansas City coach Andy Reid confirmed Friday that Patrick Mahomes has been cleared without restrictions for Chiefs training camp, which opens July 29 with a 9:15 a.m. CT practice. Reid’s announcement is the clearest signal yet that the reigning face of the franchise is done waiting for his surgically repaired knee to finish healing.
Reid told reporters gathered in St. Joseph, Missouri that Mahomes “has been cleared to participate fully” and can now “do all the different periods that we have in this camp,” according to Chiefs senior team reporter Matt McMullen. The team will still track him day-by-day, but the language from Reid removed any ambiguity about where Mahomes stands seven months after knee surgery.
Mahomes did his own confirming a few hours later. He posted a clock emoji on X, the same gesture he’d used a day earlier reacting to a Chiefs training camp video, an unmistakable “it’s time” message.
Patrick Mahomes’ Long Road Back From Knee Surgery
Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in his left knee during a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on December 14, 2025, a collapse that ended Kansas City’s postseason hopes and closed the book on his season in the same afternoon.
He underwent surgery the next night in Dallas, where Dr. Dan Cooper repaired both ligaments.
“Patrick Mahomes successfully underwent surgery in Dallas this evening with Dr. Dan Cooper to repair the tear in his left ACL,” the team said in a statement, adding that “Mahomes will begin his rehab process immediately.” Turning around a procedure of that magnitude within 24 hours of the injury is rare in itself, indicative of how anxious Mahomes was for his comeback clock to start.
A torn ACL typically demands roughly nine months of recovery, a window that pointed toward a mid-September return and lined up with Weeks 1 through 3 of the 2026 season. Spring reports already had Mahomes ahead of that pace, working through organized team activities and clearly targeting Week 1. Friday’s clearance is the latest data point suggesting he hits that ambitious goal.
Chiefs Look to Rebound From a Lost 2025 Season
Mahomes has plenty riding on the return. Kansas City finished 6-11 in 2025, third in the AFC West, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014, and for the first time in Mahomes’ career. The Chiefs suffered their first losing record since 2012, a stunning reversal for a team that had reached three straight Super Bowls before the bottom fell out.
Mahomes’ own numbers before the injury told a similar story of a down year by his own standard. He completed 315 of 502 passes for 3,587 yards, 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions across 14 starts, a passer rating of 89.6 that trailed well below his career 100.8 mark. He still added 422 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, proof the legs kept working even when the timing looked off through long stretches of the campaign.
Mahomes remains a three-time Super Bowl champion and former MVP, and a full training camp now represents the first chance since last December to rebuild the rhythm that once made him the NFL’s most feared quarterback. Kansas City’s 2026 season effectively starts the moment he steps onto the practice field, cleared, healthy, and apparently done sitting still while the rest of the league waited to see if he could beat the clock.
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