The NFL schedule-makers seem to believe Patrick Mahomes will be on the field Week 1, putting the Kansas City Chiefs in prime time twice to open the 2026 campaign.
K.C. opens against Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos on Monday night in Week 1 and follows with a Sunday night affair against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2. The schedule release certainly suggests the NFL believes reports that Mahomes' recovery from the 2025 ACL tear is going swimmingly.
The NFL wouldn't pit the Broncos versus the Chiefs in Week 1 if they believed we'd see Justin Fields against Denver backup Jarrett Stidham -- Nix is also dealing with an injury. Coach Andy Reid was asked on NFL Network on Thursday whether the league office reached out to the Chiefs for an update on Mahomes' recovery before finalizing the schedule.
"I don't give them anything, doggonit. You give them too much, then you're going to be playing over in Australia, doggonit," Reid quipped on The Insiders, referring to the Rams-49ers bout in Melbourne in Week 1. "You don't want to give them too much."
NFL executive VP of media distribution Hans Schroeder confirmed the league was not tipped off on Mahomes' recovery.
"We didn't know anything more than anyone else," Schroeder Friday on a conference call, adding he was "excited" by Reid's comments and that the Chiefs remained popular among broadcasters as evidenced by their six prime-time games in 2026.
Reid reiterated that Mahomes has been diligent about his rehab, lending some credence to the belief that the former MVP will be ready. However, he noted that nothing is a linear line.
"He's doing great right now, and that's kinda how you have to go about this," Reid said. "I've said this before, people go, 'well, he's ahead of schedule.'ā¦ I'm going, 'Who made the schedule?' Everybody's different, right? Let's just take it day by day. Nobody is spending more time than he is rehabbing. He spends seven hours here going through it. He hasn't missed a day, and he wants more, all the things that are Patrick Mahomes. Let's see where we are at as we go forward, as we get a little bit closer to the game. Roger Goodell will probably use this as motivation for the two quarterbacks, both of them have been banged up a little bit this offseason. He's doing his best coaching to get them back in there, I think."
When Mahomes went down in mid-December, the immediate question was whether he might miss the start of the 2026 season. Every indicator we've gotten from that point suggests he'll be on the field.
"He's making progress, I've said that all along, but you don't know," Reid said. "That's the reality of it. You don't know. You're not going to put the player in a position where he can't tend to himself on the football field. So you've got to be smart with that, I think. Then you've got to rely on your medical staff. ... If it's Pat, he'd go play today. But that's not where we're at. We've got time here, and let's see where we're at."
The NFL certainly believes Mahomes will be on the field Week 1. Now, we just have to wait to see if its prognostication is correct.
