Mahomes says he's cleared protocol, will play in AFC title game

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Friday he's been cleared from the NFL's concussion protocol ahead of Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

"I'll be able to go out there and be myself," Mahomes said, per Nate Taylor of The Athletic.

Mahomes has been trending toward playing all week after being knocked out in the third quarter of Kansas City's divisional-round win against the Cleveland Browns. Backup Chad Henne finished the game.

The 25-year-old reportedly took "big steps" in the protocol earlier this week and was able to take the majority of the practice snaps over the last three sessions, though he was listed as limited Wednesday and Thursday.

"You can only control what you can control," Mahomes said, per Adam Teicher of ESPN. "For me, that was coming in every day with a positive attitude, trying to make myself better, trying to prepare as if I was going to play. Luckily enough, I haven't had any symptoms and I'm able to play."

The star signal-caller is also dealing with a toe injury, but he said the issue is much improved.

The Chiefs are set to play in their third straight AFC title game. The AFC West club fell short against the New England Patriots in 2018 before beating the Tennessee Titans last season en route to its first Super Bowl win in 50 years.

Mahomes put together another MVP-caliber regular season, throwing for 4,740 yards and 38 touchdowns against six interceptions while leading Kansas City to an NFL-best 14-2 record.

Mahomes completed 70% of his passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, adding another one on the ground, before exiting against Cleveland.

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