Patrick Mahomes will start AFC Championship game despite ankle sprain - CNN

The 27-year-old had been expected to play after he was listed as a full participant in practices all week but his absence from Friday’s injury report and comments from Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid confirmed his status.

“Obviously, I have a lot of adrenaline going right now, so we’ll see how it feels,” Mahomes told reporters after the game last week.

“Luckily for us, we played the early game on Saturday, so we get an extra almost half a day that I can let that ankle rest.”

Mahomes has secured his status as the league’s best player by defeating every other notable quarterback, except Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, and it is unclear how much his ankle will hamper his attempt to complete the set.

In 2019, after suffering a similar injury, Mahomes dismantled the Las Vegas Raiders for 443 yards and four touchdown passes, but also threw a career-low 4.5% of his passes on the run and averaged his fourth-lowest 4.9 scramble yards per dropback, according to NFL.com.

And the stakes couldn’t be higher on Sunday for whoever wins will reach Super Bowl 57.