10
Loading video...
By Ellis Williams
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Patrick Mahomes needed his right arm ready for another NFL Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs sought help from a different sport to make sure it was.
The Chiefs consulted doctors associated with the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers after Mahomes injured his throwing elbow against the New York Jets, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday. The baseball specialists reviewed his scans alongside Kansas City’s own medical staff before his scheduled start against the Atlanta Falcons.
Read More on NFL
The additional opinions came from Dr. Vincent Key, the Royals’ head team physician, and Dr. Keith Meister, the Rangers’ team physician and orthopedic consultant. The evaluations identified a muscle strain and a small sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament. The doctors agreed Mahomes could play through the injury, although he continued receiving treatment during the week.
...
According to Schefter, the Chiefs wanted baseball specialists involved because those doctors encounter elbow injuries more often than their football counterparts. Chiefs vice president of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder contacted Key after the Jets game, and Key recommended another opinion. Meister reviewed the scans that Sunday night.
Meister’s practice lists throwing-athlete injuries, UCL injuries, Tommy John surgery and arthroscopic elbow surgery among his areas of expertise. Key is an orthopedic surgeon with the University of Kansas Health System and serves as the Royals’ medical director and head team physician.
The evaluations preceded a full week of practice for Mahomes. He participated without limitations Wednesday, Thursday and Friday despite being listed with knee and right elbow injuries on Kansas City’s injury report. The Chiefs gave him no game designation for Atlanta.
Mahomes briefly left the Jets game with the elbow injury in the first half, according to Kansas City’s official recap. Afterward, he said additional testing was planned. The Chiefs won 35–12 to end a two-game losing streak and improve to 6–2.
They will not have the same offensive lineup in Atlanta. Running back Kenneth Walker, who scored three touchdowns and produced 143 yards from scrimmage against New York, has been ruled out with a groin injury. Offensive tackle Jaylon Moore is also out with an ankle injury.
Kansas City has added another receiving option, acquiring Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts during the week. Downs arrived with 33 catches for 354 yards and one touchdown this season, including a seven-catch performance against the Chiefs in September.
Mahomes enters the Atlanta game cleared to throw to his newest teammate after a week in which Kansas City looked beyond its own medical staff for answers about his arm.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines