Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes admits he will be relying on “a little bit of adrenaline” during Super Bowl 57 as he aims to be as fit as possible despite nursing an ankle injury.
Mahomes’ fitness will be key if the Chiefs are to beat the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.
The 27-year-old suffered a sprain during the divisional rounds and, while he was still able to lead his team past the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game, he is not at 100 per cent heading into his third Super Bowl in four seasons.
“I don’t think you’ll know exactly until you get to game day,” he replied when asked at a press conference how his recovery was progressing.
“I’m definitely in a better spot. I mean, I definitely can move around better than I was moving last week, or two weeks ago.
“So (I’m) just trying to continue to get the treatment and the rehab, to get to as close as I can to 100 per cent and then rely on some adrenaline to let me do a little bit extra when I’m on the field.
“So it’s going to definitely be better, more mobile, be able to move around a little bit better for sure (than against the Bengals) and then we’ll see on game day how close to 100 per cent I can be.”
Mahomes, who this week is widely expected to be named league MVP for the second time in his career, believes he faces a tough challenge against a mean Eagles defence.
“I mean, they’re great everywhere, so it’s hard to pick one,” he added when asked to identify the strengths of the opposition.
“Obviously, I’d probably say the defensive line just because I mean, they’re on like a historic sack rate and the way they’re able to get to the quarterback.
“Everybody knows everything starts up front and so it’d be a great challenge for our offensive line to try to do what they can in the run game, in the pass game, protecting and run blocking.
“So for us, we understand it to be a great challenge through and through, but the defensive line is a special group and so I’d probably say that.”
