One of the biggest stories heading into the Super Bowl is the status of Patrick Mahomes' ankle. Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain during the Chiefs' divisional round victory over the Jaguars. Despite that being an injury that typically knocks players out for 4-6 weeks, Mahomes returned later in the game, then played the following week in the AFC title game against the Bengals.
Of course, the Chiefs ended up winning both games, and despite not being 100% healthy, Mahomes played pretty damn well. He completed 51 of 73 passes for 521 yards and four touchdowns across those two contests, with zero interceptions and only three sacks taken. He's going to have had two more weeks to heal up before the Super Bowl, and at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, he left no doubt that he'll be out there once again.
"I'm just gonna make it real quick," Mahomes said, per NFL.com. "I'll play through all injuries that the trainers will let me play through. That's the list. As long as the trainers are OK for me to get out there, I'm going to play through it."
As for how the health of his ankle will feel, Mahomes was a little less clear.
"You won't know until you get out there in the game," Mahomes said. "I'm gonna push it. I'll try to leave it all on the line. I think you all saw that in the last game that I played. But it's about relying on your teammates -- and I got a lot of great teammates around me -- and not trying to do too much. But I'll definitely be in a better spot than I was last game."
Mahomes' ability to use his legs and create outside the structure of the offense is one of his greatest skills, and in a game against an offense as explosive as Philadelphia's, it's important for him to be able to create those plays in order to match what the Eagles are able to do. It's even more important because the Eagles also have the league's most ferocious pass rush, and even given the strength of Kansas City's offensive line, there might be some more pressure bearing down on Mahomes than usual. How he's moving around on that ankle, both throughout this week and during the game, will be one of the most important factors in who eventually takes home the Lombardi Trophy.