Patrick Mahomes isn’t playing because he tore the ACL (and also damaged the LCL) in his left knee in mid-December 2025 and underwent season-ending surgery, so he is out while he rehabs the injury.

What happened to Mahomes?

  • Mahomes injured his left knee late in a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when his knee bent awkwardly on a hit.
  • Imaging and team announcements confirmed a torn ACL in his left knee, ending his 2025 season and knocking the Chiefs out of any remaining postseason hopes.

Current status and surgery

  • The Chiefs announced that Mahomes had successful surgery in Dallas to repair the torn ACL, with additional repair of the LCL in the same knee.
  • The team has said he began rehab immediately after surgery, with optimism but no firm public timetable beyond hopes of being back for the start of the 2026 season.

Who is playing instead?

  • With Mahomes out, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew has been named the starter for the Chiefs for the remainder of the 2025 season.
  • The team may still evaluate the position further in the offseason, depending on Mahomes’ rehab progress and recovery timeline.

Fan and forum discussion angle

  • Fans and forum threads are framing this as a brutal end to a down Chiefs year, noting that it’s the first time in nearly a decade the team’s playoff streak has been snapped and that Mahomes’ production was already below his usual MVP level before the injury.
  • Discussion also focuses on how unusual it is to see Mahomes suffer a truly season-ending injury given his prior durability and how much pressure this puts on the Chiefs’ 2026 reboot around their franchise quarterback.

Meta description (SEO):
Patrick Mahomes isn’t playing because he suffered a torn ACL (and LCL damage) in his left knee in December 2025, underwent season-ending surgery, and is now rehabbing while backup Gardner Minshew starts for the Chiefs.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.