Who Should I Start? Patrick Mahomes or Tua Tagovailoa

Wednesday, December 17, 1:21 PM

Kansas City Chiefs head trainer Rick Burkholder said that quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) was operated on quickly to fix the LCL part of his ACL/LCL knee injury that he suffered in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to Jesse Newell of The Athletic. Mahomes has started his rehab in Dallas this week and will continue through Thursday before returning to KC. The fact that the 30-year-old tore both his ACL and LCL will make his recovery more complicated, but reports suggest that Mahomes is "hellbent" on returning for the Week 1 season opener in 2026. For the final three weeks of the 2025 season, Gardner Minshew will run KC's offense, which is an obvious downgrade for all of the Chiefs' offensive skill players. Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, threw for 3,587 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 14 games in 2025 in his ninth NFL season.

Sunday, December 21, 12:54 PM

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was demoted to the third-string role ahead of Week 16, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Tagovailoa has likely played his final snap with the team. Barring something unexpected, Miami will finish the year with Quinn Ewers and Zach Wilson as its active quarterbacks before re-evaluating the position group sans Tagovailoa during the offseason. Specifically, Rapoport said on Sunday that the Dolphins hope to trade Tagovailoa within the upcoming months. With that said, it may be tough to find a suitor who wants to take on the former first-round pick and the approximate $175 million cap hit that he carries over the next three years, especially after a tumultuous campaign in which he tallied 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.