Patrick Mahomes is scheduled to start Week 1 for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Denver Broncos only nine months after tearing his ACL and LCL.

That recovery window sits at the shortest end of what players have historically needed to return from the injury with any real success, which has fueled worry that the quarterback may be pushing too hard after the franchise’s first losing season in more than a decade.

A second, more specific concern centers on left tackle Josh Simmons. The 2025 first-round pick missed nine games as a rookie and is still managing a lingering back injury.

Even when he is on the field, one of his go-to blocking methods has drawn pointed criticism from people who know the Chiefs’ offensive line well.

On the September 7 episode of The Ringer Fantasy Football Show, Danny Heifetz offered a blunt assessment.

“I think Patrick Mahomes is gonna tear his ACL again,” he said. When co-host Craig Horlbeck asked whether the fear stemmed from Mahomes rushing back, Heifetz answered, “That’s part of it.”

He then described Simmons’ signature move: “So Josh Simmons the left tackle, he has this move … where you kind of grab [the defender] by the shoulder pads and throw him down to his left. It’s called the snatch technique.” Co-host Danny Kelly immediately noted the risk of sending that defender “into [Mahomes’] legs.”

Heifetz pointed to former Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, a key piece of the line that won the team’s first Super Bowl, as someone who has been vocal about the danger.

Schwartz “just keeps posting on Twitter that Josh Simmons should not be using that technique because eventually Patrick Mahomes will be there, and he’s gonna be in the pocket more this season because of the [lack of] mobility.”

Those protection questions sit alongside broader doubts about whether Kansas City has done enough to lighten Mahomes’ load.

Last year, he often had to scramble to paper over a limited running game and thin receiving corps, both of which are once again question marks for the Chiefs heading into 2026.

How the Chiefs manage both Simmons’ technique and the surrounding supporting cast will go a long way toward determining whether Mahomes’ early return stays a story of resilience or becomes something far more costly.