Patrick Mahomes, in knee brace, participates in Chiefs' first practice

Patrick Mahomes, wearing a large brace on his surgically repaired left knee, participated in the Kansas City Chiefs' first organized team activities practice on Tuesday.

The team tweeted a video of the three-time Super Bowl MVP backpedaling to simulate taking the ball from a snap, then throwing a pass. The caption read, "QB1" with a clock emoji.

QB1. pic.twitter.com/z2zGoIhIVz

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 26, 2026

It is unclear how long Mahomes was on the field or the extent of his work, as the practice was not open to the public nor the media.

Mahomes tore his left anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in the Chiefs' Dec. 14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, then underwent surgery the following day.

In his first public comments after the operation, Mahomes said in January, looking ahead to the 2026 season, "I want to be ready for Week 1. The doctors said I could, but I can't predict what happens throughout the process. That's the goal, to play Week 1 and have no restrictions. You want to be out there healthy and give us the best chance to win. I hope to do some things in OTAs and training camp and be able to do things there."

The ligament tears represent the first major injury of Mahomes' NFL career.

Mahomes, 30, threw for 3,587 yards and 22 touchdowns with 11 interceptions in 14 games last year. He also ran for a career-high 422 yards and five TDs.

A two-time regular-season MVP, Mahomes owns a 95-31 career record as a starter in nine NFL seasons, all with Kansas City. He has a 66.2% completion rate while throwing for 35,939 yards, 267 touchdowns and 85 interceptions. His average of 285.2 passing yards per game is the best in NFL history.

The Chiefs traded for Justin Fields in March to potentially start at quarterback if Mahomes isn't ready to begin the season. Kansas City drafted quarterback Garrett Nussmeier in the seventh round out of LSU last month. Chris Oladokun, who went 0-2 as a starter to end last season in Mahomes' absence, also remains with the team.

--Field Level Media