For the first time in over a decade, the Kansas City Chiefs will not be participating in the 2025 NFL playoffs. But this lost season isn’t just the end of a streak for the Chiefs. It’s also the end of an unprecedented run of health for QB Patrick Mahomes.
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The Chiefs fell to 6-8 after a 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15. Near the end of that game, Mahomes was tackled awkwardly by a Chargers defender, resulting in torn ACL and LCL ligaments in his left knee.
It’s a devastating injury for a guy who had never missed a meaningful NFL game in his career. And considering how unique he is when he’s healthy, perhaps Mahomes’ recovery would break records too. Could he already be running less than a week after tearing up his knee?
Claim: Just six days after suffering the injury and just five days after undergoing successful surgery to repair it, there are already claims that Patrick Mahomes was seen running on the surgically repaired knee.
Source of Claim: The claim that Mahomes was already running less than a week into his recovery comes from a verified Twitter account claiming to be NFL insider, namely Richard Johnson.
#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has “already started running” just one week after tearing his ACL.
Have we ever seen anyone like him? pic.twitter.com/XkdgJml0KU
— Richard Johnson (@RichJohnsonNFL) December 20, 2025
Verdict: Unfortunately for Chiefs fans, Mahomes is not an alien, so this report is false. The Richard Johnson Twitter account does have over 6k followers, but it clearly identifies itself as a parody in its bio. It’s even followed by the king of fake sports news, NBACentel.
But no, Mahomes is certainly not running. According to Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Burkholder, an injury like Mahomes’ generally has a nine-month recovery timeline, putting him in line to be back around the start of the 2026 regular season. However, he said that depending on the player, the timeline could be a couple of months shorter or a couple of months longer.
Burkholder believes that with Mahomes’ insane work ethic, he will likely return on the shorter side of that nine-month timetable.
“I think you guys know, as a player, his mindset is a little different than most,” Burkholder said. “He’s so regimented in what he does. He’s in here at 6 a.m. He’s the last guy out at night. He’ll take the rehab like that… When you add up all the little things, that allows the player to get back faster. They don’t heal up faster, they just get back to performance faster.”
According to North Carolina Specialty Hospital, there are six stages to ACL recovery. Through the first couple of weeks, you will be able to walk and put a little bit of weight on the joint. From 3-5 weeks, there will be more physical therapy centered on strengthening. A brace is generally worn, and players can return to driving their cars.
At 6-8 weeks, full range of motion will return, and there should be no more pain or swelling. After 12 weeks, the knee should have full stability; this is when players return to sport specific training. Between three and five months is when players can ease their way back into full-scale running. And then from six to 12 months, players can start returning to normal sports activities as they see fit.
On average, it takes three months to start running after ACL surgery. If a player ever actually starts running less than a week after that procedure, we’ll have to check them for Kryptonian blood.
