Patrick Mahomes says he'll push to play vs. Texans

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will try to take the field against the Houston Texans on Saturday.

This comes just a few days after Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Cleveland Browns. He did practice on Tuesday and gave an update on his injury.

"That's the reason you play this game, is to push to play. I'll get to work at practice and try to push it to see where I can get to, but at the end of the day, I'm not gonna put our team in a bad position," Mahomes said. "

"If I feel like I can play and go out there and win a football game, I'll play and if I don't feel like that's the best case scenario, I'll let guys like Carson [Wentz] play. It's just about pushing this week, seeing where I'm at and making the best decision then."

The Chiefs are playing on a short week and hold a two game lead over Buffalo with three games left to play at 13-1, but the Bills do own the tiebreaker.

"We've put ourselves in good position, I wouldn't say it was dire that I play. It's not like in the AFC Championship game where we were playing to get to the Super Bowl. We have a little bit of room to kind of spare, but at the end of the day, we're trying to win."

Mahomes was referring to the 2023 AFC Championship vs. Cincinnati, where he played through another high-ankle sprain he suffered the previous week in the Divisional Round against Jacksonville. He said that high-ankle sprain was more severe than the one he's dealing with now.

"Jacksonville was worse. That one was pretty significant. I mean this one didn't feel good by any means. The Jacksonville one, just the way I got caught. This last one I kind of got my feet out at the very end, where the Jacksonville one, I really didn't get to. It's responded better, quicker," Mahomes said about his most recent ankle sprain.

The two-time MVP said he won't know his status for Saturday until closer the end of the week, but there is certain checkpoints he will be looking for to evaluate if he's healthy enough to play.

"I want to be to able to move. I want to be able to get out of the way," Mahomes said. I don't want to limit the game plan. I want to still be able to move around the pocket so we're just not sitting in one spot the whole entire game and letting [the Texans] D-line really get after it."

The Chiefs have a quick turnaround after the Texans, playing Pittsburgh just four days later on Christmas. Mahomes said that won't have an effect on how he approaches the next two games.

He was listed as a full participant in practice on Tuesday, along with wide receiver Hollywood Brown, who could be making his first appearance this season.