Patrick Mahomes sustained an elbow injury during the first half of the Chiefs’ game against the Jets on Sunday, but he remained in the game and kept playing through obvious pain.
With the Chiefs running the two-minute drill, Mahomes dropped back to pass, and as he started his throwing motion, rookie David Bailey — rushing toward Mahomes from the outside — connected with Mahomes’ right arm and forced the fumble.
Following the fumble, Mahomes was in pain while walking off the field, grabbing his right elbow with his left arm, but he was back on the field for Kansas City’s final drive of the opening half, even completing a pass to Travis Kelce on the first play of the possession.
“He hurt his elbow a little bit,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said during an interview on the CBS broadcast. “It’s sore, but he came back, and he’s a tough kid.”
If Mahomes had needed to miss a play, Kansas City would’ve turned to backup Justin Fields, who played for the Jets in 2025 and was dealt to the Chiefs in March for a sixth-round pick.
It marked the latest injury scare for Kansas City and Mahomes, who underwent surgery last season to repair a torn ACL and LCL but returned in time for Week 1.
In the first half of Sunday’s game, Mahomes connected with running back Kenneth Walker III for a pair of touchdowns to give the Chiefs the lead over the Jets, and early in the fourth quarter, Mahomes was 23-for-31 for 242 yards in the 35-12 win.
The Chiefs lost a pair of games entering Sunday, but they won five straight games to start the season and sat in second place in the AFC West.
Mahomes had thrown for 1.795 yards and 12 touchdowns — and just four interceptions — through his first seven games of the season, and was going against a Jets offense that struggled to turn promising drives into touchdowns.
