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Despite being active in the AFC Championship, Patrick Mahomes is still dealing with his high ankle sprain. He was able to practice all week, but there is true uncertainty about how it will respond during the game, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Mahomes picked up the injury in the Divisional round against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Mahomes didn’t even want to miss any game action when he sustained the injury in the first half. He finally relinquished to Chad Henne so he could undergo testing. Prior to leaving the field, Mahomes visibly had trouble even running to hand the ball off to his running back in the backfield. He was able to finish the game and then got an MRI confirming the high ankle sprain. Mahomes ended up tallying a total of 195 passing yards and two touchdowns, largely playing on one leg.
The Cincinnati Bengals' defense is ready to test Mahomes’ ankle injury early. They’re reportedly planning on applying pressure from the start of the game to see how Mahomes can handle it. The young quarterback has played like a video game character before, but only time will tell exactly how healthy his ankle is for the game.