Patrick Mahomes injures ankle after critical remarks about Chiefs’ tight schedule

Patrick Mahomes suffered an injury during the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Cleveland Browns, and it came at a pivotal time for the team ahead of the playoffs.

The Chiefs’ victory kicked off an 11-day stretch in which they will play three games. Next up is a home game against the Houston Texans followed by a Christmas Day Wednesday game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Adding to the pressure of playing three games in 11 days is another ankle injury that flared up on Sunday. It knocked him out of the game in the fourth quarter and forced Carson Wentz to come into the game.

Mahomes said the X-rays were negative.

“We’ll get into the rehab part, the treatment part and try to get back on a short week,” Mahomes said. “With all the adrenaline from the game, it’s hard to tell now (if he can play). Usually, it’s the day after when you get a good sense of it.”

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Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said the ankle wasn’t broken.

Mahomes railed against playing three games in a short span in the days before the team played the Browns.

“It’s not a good feeling,” he said Wednesday. “You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body. But at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession, you have to come to work and do it.”

He added that he never heard of playing three games in a short span when it came to football.

“All you can do is focus on the game. The practice you have that day,” he said. “I try to prepare my body all year long for this stretch. That’s tailoring my workouts, tailoring how you practice and prepare, and the coaches do a great job of taking care of us on the practice field. We practice as hard as anybody, but they know how to dial it back when needed.”

The second game in the stretch will be played Saturday.

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