Patrick Mahomes Might've Played with Injury 'Back in the Day,' Per Chiefs' Reid

Patrick Mahomes has to clear the league's concussion protocol before he can take the field in the AFC Championship Game, but Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid thought the quarterback would have been able to return to the field right away "back in the day."

"There was a chance back in the day that Patrick comes back in [the game]," Reid told reporters Monday. "You saw him run up the tunnel. By the time he got to that point he was feeling pretty good. But there's a certain protocol you have to follow and that takes it out of the trainer's hand and the player's hand and the doctor's hand."

Mahomes went down in the third quarter and was replaced by backup Chad Henne, who guided the Chiefs past the Cleveland Browns and to a matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. 

While Reid told reporters after the 22-17 victory over Cleveland that Mahomes "passed all the deals that he needed to pass" in reference to the league's concussion protocol, Carrington Harrison of CBS Sports Radio reported that Mahomes suffered a tweaked nerve in his neck on the play and didn't hit his head.

Harrison noted Mahomes was undergoing further testing on his neck and nerve Monday.

While Henne was able to keep the Chiefs in line to secure a victory, thanks largely to some late rushing efforts, he completed just six of eight passes for 66 yards.

As Kansas City rested its stars, he got the start in Week 17 against the Los Angeles Chargers, posting 218 yards and two touchdowns on 71.9 percent passing in his first start since 2014. But the 35-year-old has just one postseason appearance under his belt—the quarter-and-a-half he played Sunday.  

Getting Mahomes back against a hungry Buffalo team is a necessity if the Chiefs want to have a chance at winning back-to-back championships.