David Carr Sees a Silver Lining in Patrick Mahomes’ ACL Injury

For the first time in his illustrious NFL career, Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending injury in Week 15 of the 2025 campaign.

Not only is his season over. But Mahones’ team, the Kansas City Chiefs, was eliminated from playoff contention completely with the 16-13 loss to the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers. That’s also the first time that’s happened in the Mahomian era in K.C.

It’s hard to glean positives in a situation like this. However, former No. 1 overall pick David Carr believes there is a silver lining Mahomes can lean on following his torn ACL, as recovery timelines for these injuries have shortened significantly in recent years.

“I’m gonna be glass half full guy here. I’m not glad that it happened,” Carr said on his podcast, Home Grown.

“But I’m happy that he doesn’t have to play behind that group for the next couple of games. Rehab, get healthy. Fix your knee up. At least now, with the modern technology and science, you can get back pretty quick from ACLs. He’s gonna be just fine,” added the former QB.

As Carr’s brother Derek, a fellow NFL alumni said, with the quality of modern medicine, Mahomes’ knee might come back from the injury even stronger than before. The injury Mahomes suffered in Week 15 was not due to the protection; he was scrambling and got tackled awkwardly.

However, as David briefly mentioned, when Mahomes does return, it will have to be behind a better offensive line.

As is usually the case when these Mahomian Chiefs don’t get to where they should, a lot of the blame falls on the protection. They have allowed Mahomes to be sacked 34 times this season, which is more than all but four other QBs in the league.

With a lot of the core people—including TE Travis Kelce, HC Andy Reid, and DT Chris Jones—getting up there in age, Derek believes it could be a wild, wild west offseason for K.C. as they look to reload and ensure they protect their prized franchise QB, who is still only 30.

“This year, with the injury, with how it went, with how it looked on offense. I have a feeling … that this offseason is going to be crazy for them. And No. 1, in the offensive staff room. I think it’s gonna be, let’s find an identity, this is who we are. And we’re gonna go get the players and do whatever it takes to do that.”

The Chiefs have done a good job of building up their receiving corps with young guns. But they have seemingly done it at the expense of everything else. There’s not much to write home about at TE behind Kelce. The RB situation is as dire as any in the league. And we already discussed how the o-line needs to be better.

That’s a lot of shopping for the Chiefs next spring.