KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One week — and less than 4 minutes of game action — after the Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL in his left knee, the same fate has likely befallen his backup, Gardner Minshew.
Minshew will undergo an MRI to confirm the initial diagnosis of a torn ACL when the club returns to Kansas City following a 26-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans, sources told Chiefs Digest. The 29-year-old Minshew came up limping after an 8-yard scramble with 13:33 left in the first quarter on the team’s first drive of the game. Minshew remained in the game, however, playing into the second quarter, but looked uncomfortable delivering the ball.
Coach Andy Reid did not detail the extent of Minshew’s injury in his postgame press conference.
“Gardner hurt his left knee,” Reid said. “We don’t have any results for you here. We’ll get that when he has a chance to have an MRI on it.”
He finished 3-of-8 passing for 15 yards as the offense mustered just 27 yards and one first down on four possessions. After the Chiefs surrendered a safety to fall behind 2-0, Minshew went to the medical tent for an examination and later headed to the locker room. Chris Oladokun, who was signed to the team’s active roster Saturday from the practice squad, finished the game at quarterback for the Chiefs.
Oladokun had played only five snaps in the regular season heading into Sunday, all of them coming in last year’s Week 18 loss at Denver. Reid said he thought Oladokun handled himself OK in his first substantial playing time.
“He was able to get us moving a little bit,” Reid said. “I probably could give him better stuff to work with. In particular, give him some more reps during the week. He didn’t have any reps to lead him in, but for what he was asked to do, I thought he did a nice job.”
Oladokun’s first thoughts after the game were with the two quarterbacks on the depth chart in front of him, whose injuries made his chance possible on Sunday.
“We don’t know the severity of the (Minshew) injury yet, but our QB room is so close,” Oladokun said. “And so, when you see good friends go down like that, it’s really tough. And then for me, being here for four years, you always walk through when your first moment is going to be, and when you’re going to sort of get an opportunity. I’ve really just attacked these last four years like you never know. Today just happened to be an opportunity for me and I wanted to take full advantage of it.
The injury to Minshew casts doubt on both the two remaining games in Kansas City’s 2025 campaign and the upcoming offseason. Minshew was largely viewed as auditioning to return as Kansas City’s No. 2 quarterback with the possibility that Mahomes may miss the beginning of the 2026 season. The torn ACL, depending on the confirmed diagnosis and its severity, would put the start of the 2026 season in doubt for Minshew as well.
Mahomes, coincidentally, suffered a similar injury in the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15. That injury occurred with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter of the game — approximately three and a half minutes of game action before the Minshew injury. Mahomes suffered a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee, which is projected to keep him out for approximately nine months.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach will now turn to finding a backup for Oladokun. Two quarterbacks — Shane Buechele with the Buffalo Bills and Bailey Zappe with the Cleveland Browns — are on practice squads around the league who have spent time with the Chiefs in the past. Zappe spent the offseason and training camp with the Chiefs this year, while Buechele was with Kansas City for two seasons after signing as an undrafted free agent with the team in 2021. Teams can entice players from other clubs’ practice squads by signing them onto the active 53-player roster, but players can opt to stay on the practice squad if they so choose.
“Just by numbers, if that’s the case, Brett is on it and looking at different people there,” Reid said.
