Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Passed Concussion Protocol After Scary Hit vs. Titans

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes left Sunday's matchup with the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter after taking a hit to the head and was replaced by Chad Henne.

After the game. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that Mahomes passed the concussion protocol and it was a coach's decision to keep him on the sideline.

Mahomes also spoke to reporters, saying he felt "fine" after the hit.

It's fair to argue that there isn't a player more valuable to his team than Mahomes is to the Chiefs, even amidst the team's struggles this year. The 26-year-old was the MVP and first-team All-Pro in 2018, a Super Bowl champion in the 2019 season and has been selected to three Pro Bowls. 

He continued his run of excellence in 2020, throwing for 4,740 yards, 38 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 15 games while completing 66.3 percent of his passes. He led the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl, though they fell short against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' stout defense. 

There's no doubt that the Chiefs are dramatically worse without Mahomes. There's a reason they signed him to a historically lucrative 10-year, $450 million contract extension in July 2020. The Chiefs will do everything in their power to make sure he spends the entirety of his career in Kansas City. 

If Mahomes misses time in the future, Henne will serve as the starter. In three appearances (one start) last season, he threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns, completing 73.7 percent of his passes. The Chiefs did lose his one start to the Los Angeles Chargers in January, 38-21. 

But Henne came up with arguably the team's biggest play of the season, completing a fourth-and-inches pass to Tyreek Hill in the waning moments of the team's divisional round victory over the Cleveland Browns, icing that game. 

He replaced Mahomes in the second half of that contest after the starter was ruled out with a concussion, leading the Chiefs to a field goal on the first of his three drives. But that fourth-down conversion will be remembered in Kansas City for a long time. 

For now, however, it appears the Chiefs will have their MVP signal-caller under center in Week 8 when it takes on the New York Giants