Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid shoulders the blame for the ankle injury suffered by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, according to NFL legend Mark Schlereth.
Mahomes, 29, left the Chiefs game against the Cleveland Browns in the fourth quarter on Sunday, December 15 after injuring his right ankle. The two-time MVP suffered a high-ankle sprain and is questionable for the team’s Saturday, December 21 game against the Houston Texans.
“Part of my question is, when you’re up 21-0, why are you still throwing the ball?” Schlereth, 58, asked Monday, December 16 on The Rich Eisen Show.
The injury to Mahomes actually came when the Chiefs were winning 21-7. After Mahomes exited the game, back-up quarterback Carson Wentz closed out the victory for Kansas City.
“There seems to be this aversion to Andy Reid of running the football and eating things up,” Schlereth continued. “Like, ‘I’m gonna win the way I wanna win.’ I said this as a criticism when they lost the Super Bowl several years ago to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [in 2021]. They were averaging seven yards a carry, but that’s not good enough. ‘We’re gonna throw the freakin’ ball every chance we get.’”
Schlereth, a former guard who played 12 seasons in the NFL between 1989 and 2000, further questioned Reid’s decision-making because the Chiefs have “a history this year of not being able to protect your quarterback.”
“You were on your fourth offensive left tackle in this game and yet you’re still throwing it with the lead,” he added. “I really don’t understand that philosophy from Andy Reid. He’s a great coach, Hall of Famer to be sure. But there are some times when I just completely disagree with the way he calls a game.”
After Sunday’s victory, Reid, 66, acknowledged that Mahomes wasn’t happy with his decision to keep him out of the game.
“He wanted to fight about it, but we’ve got good support there behind him with Carson and it was good to get him a few reps in there too, and let our guys hear that snap count in case he has to go,” Reid told reporters.
The injury happened as Mahomes was being dragged down from behind by Browns defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and simultaneously being hit high by Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall.
Mahomes told reporters he “could have finished the game under different circumstances,” and explained what led to him getting awkwardly scrunched up.
“I was trying to run up in the pocket, obviously fourth down, trying to make a play happen,” Mahomes said. “As I threw the ball, I kind of got hit — and I haven’t seen it — but it felt like someone hit me from behind as well. So I kind of just got rolled up on. It kind of happens in football, and so I tried to bounce back up, but obviously, it hurt a little bit.”
The Chiefs return to action — potentially without Mahomes — on Saturday, December 21 against the Houston Texans at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
