Patrick Mahomes Has A Patellar Dislocation; This Is What It Means

It was the second quarter of last night's game against the Denver Broncos, and Patrick Mahomes' right knee cap was not in the right place. Literally.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback had just tried a quarterback sneak. During the ensuing pile up of very heavy bodies, he had suffered a right patella dislocation, according to ESPN 's Stephania Bell:

You can see the play that resulted in his injury at the 3:35 mark in this NFL video:

Huge ouchy. Patella rhymes with umbrella, as in "you can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella." It's the fancy medical term for knee cap. As you can imagine, your patella "kneeds" to be in the right place. Normally, it sits in the front of your knee in what's called the patellofemoral groove, where your thigh bone (also called your femur) meets your shin bone (your tibia).

A patella dislocation is not when your patella doesn't have a GPS device but is when your patella moves out of where it is supposed to be. This can happen as the result of contact or no contact. In the former case, a direct blow to the area pushes the knee cap out of place. In the latter situation, you may plant your foot and then rapidly switch your direction or twist your leg. The most common type of dislocation is your patella moving towards the outside side of your knee. This is not a good look, keeps you from properly moving your knee, and is usually accompanied by swelling and pain.

Thus, when a patella dislocation occurs, the first thing to do after you say, "oh bleep," is to try to reduce the dislocation. This means getting the patella back into the patellofemoral groove. Not to prove your love to me, in the words of the Madonna song, but to prevent further inflammation and damage.

Sometimes reduction will occur spontaneously as you try to straighten your knee. It may require some coaxing, not verbal but physical, pushing the patella towards the middle while straightening your knee. Ideally, you want a qualified medical professional to help, because moving your bones inside your body could cause more damage.

The next step for Mahomes will be to check his knee for damage. An X-ray may tell if a fracture occurred in the patella or the surrounding bones. An exam and an MRI can help check for damage to surrounding ligaments and tendons including his quadriceps muscle tendons, patellar tendon, medial patellofemoral ligament, lateral collateral ligament, and medial collateral ligament. After all if it weren't for these ligaments and tendons, your patella would be hella mobile. Thus, anytime a patella dislocation occurs, check for any laxity or damage in these ligaments and tendons that may have allowed the patella to move so much in the first place.

If it is just a simple patella dislocation that's been successfully reduced, he'll have to keep his knee immobilized for about seven to 10 days to allow the swelling and pain to go down. The next step will be physical therapy to gradually get his knee moving again and strengthen the muscles around the area. Typically, full recovery will take three to six weeks.

Things could get a lot more complicated if they find problems with the tendons or ligaments surrounding his patella. If the tear or damage turns out to be minor, then perhaps physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around his knee would suffice. Wearing a brace around his knee could provide more stability and protection and allow things to heal. However, a larger tear could require surgery, which could greatly lengthen Mahomes' recovery time and even cost him the rest of the season. His doctors would have to assess the stability of his knee and whether another dislocation is likely to occur.

Damage caused by the patella dislocation could complicate matters as well. His recovery time and need for surgery would depend on the location and nature of this damage. For example, if pieces of bone or cartilage were sheared off during the dislocation, surgery may be necessary to remove these pieces, lest they cause irritation or more damage.

Many will be waiting for an update on the condition of Mahomes' knee. This ESPN tweet summarizes some of what he has done in the league so far in his young career:

Here's hoping that it is just a one-time simple dislocation. If you are a Chiefs player, a Chiefs fan, a fantasy football player with Mahomes on your roster, or just someone who wants anyone besides the New England Patriots to win the AFC (and restore happiness in the world), losing the reigning NFL's most valuable player (Mahomes) for the season would be particularly bad and not a good kneecap for the season.

UPDATE (October 19, 2019): Apparently, the exam and MRI did not find additional damage according to league sources:

Mahomes sent out the following tweet as well:

All of this suggests the three-to-six week timetable for recovery and Mahomes returning this season. Good news for Mahomes and Chiefs fans and those seeking to restore happiness in the world.