how long is patrick mahomes out for
Patrick Mahomes is expected to be out roughly 9 months from his December 2025 ACL/LCL surgery, putting his realistic return around early-to-mid 2026, likely near Week 2–3 of the 2026 NFL season if rehab stays on track. There is a wider “best case vs. worst case” range, though, so nothing is guaranteed yet.
How long is Patrick Mahomes out for?
The core timeline
- Mahomes tore his left ACL and LCL in a late-season game against the Chargers in mid-December 2025 and had surgery the very next day.
- Standard recovery for this kind of knee surgery is about nine months , which would line him up for a mid-September 2026 return (around Week 2 or Week 3 of the NFL season).
- The Chiefs’ medical staff has publicly framed the ballpark recovery window as 7–11 months:
- Earliest: July 2026 (training camp / preseason, in time for Week 1).
- Most likely: September 2026 (early regular season).
- Slowest: November 2026 (missing roughly half the season).
So if you’re asking “how long is Patrick Mahomes out for,” the realistic answer is: he’s out for the rest of the 2025 season and is projected to miss somewhere from 0 to about 8 games in 2026, with teams and media circling that 9‑month mark as the main target.
Latest news and rehab vibes
- Reports from late December 2025 and early January 2026 say he is “attacking” rehab and staying heavily engaged with the team, but not traveling for games while he recovers.
- Photos and behind-the-scenes looks show him still on crutches and in a knee brace entering the New Year, which lines up with the early phase of a major ligament rehab.
- Public comments from coaches and trainers emphasize patience and long-term health over rushing him back for early 2026 games.
Fans and forum discussions are already debating whether he pushes for Week 1, but medical expectations lean toward caution—Week 2–3 being the optimistic “smart” window, with the team prepared in case it stretches into the middle of the season.
What this means for the Chiefs
- He is officially done for the 2025 campaign; the Chiefs finished a disappointing season without him after his injury.
- Kansas City has to plan for:
- A backup starter early in 2026 if he’s not ready by Week 1.
- Playbook adjustments to ease him back when he returns, limiting designed runs and high-risk movement early on.
- Long term, ACL/LCL injuries are serious but not career-ending in modern sports when rehab goes well, and everything so far points to him treating the process with his usual ultra-competitive intensity.
In most forum and social discussions, the consensus is: don’t rush Mahomes for September heroics if it risks January and February , especially with the kind of window Kansas City still has when he’s healthy.
Quick FAQ style rundown
- Is Mahomes out for all of 2026?
Extremely unlikely if rehab follows a normal course; the 7–11 month window is firmly 2026 return territory.
- Is Week 1 2026 possible?
Yes, but that’s the aggressive side of the range; the medical “default” expectation is closer to Week 2–3.
- Could he miss half the season?
That’s the pessimistic end (around 11 months), and teams are planning for that as a contingency rather than a prediction.
TL;DR: If you’re tracking how long Patrick Mahomes is out for , think “rest of 2025 plus roughly 9 months of rehab,” with the most talked-about target being an early 2026 regular-season return, but with enough uncertainty that Chiefs fans have to stay patient.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.