When it came to reviewing the scans of Patrick Mahomes elbow this past week, the Kansas City Chiefs covered all their bases -- literally.
In addition to their own doctors reviewing scans of Mahomes' elbow, the Chiefs branched out and had renowned doctors from the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers offer second and third opinions, sources told ESPN.
Doctors found that Mahomes suffered a muscle strain and also what one source described as "a very small sprain of his UCL."
All doctors believed that it was safe for Mahomes to resume playing, despite the fact that he was sore and continued receiving treatment throughout the week.
Now after a week of practice in which he took all the throws, Mahomes is expected to start Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Chiefs turned to baseball doctors because they felt those doctors deal with elbow injuries more in baseball than in football. The Chiefs knew that they could not send a $500 million player like Mahomes to just any doctors -- they wanted the best and brightest to examine the images of an elbow as valuable as Mahomes'.
The two individuals with deep ties to baseball that the Chiefs turned to were Dr. Vincent Key, the Royals' head team physician who specializes in Tommy John surgery and newer UCL repair techniques, and Dr. Keith Meister, the Rangers' team physician and orthopedic consultant, who is one of baseball's best-known orthopedic surgeons specializing in elbow and shoulder injuries.
Rick Burkholder, the Chiefs' vice president of sports medicine and performance, reached out to Key shortly after Kansas City's victory last Sunday over the New York Jets. Key reviewed the scans and, according to a source, felt like the Chiefs and Mahomes "got away with one." But he also recommended that another noted doctor review the images, and thus Meister was contacted Sunday night and offered a similar sentiment.
Both Key and Meister acted urgently and reviewed Mahomes' scans, and both agreed the two-time MVP suffered more of a muscle strain, according to sources, and that the damage could have been significantly worse.
Up until all the doctors had studied the scans and weighed in with their opinions, the Chiefs were concerned with what any one of them could find with Mahomes' elbow. They knew he stayed in the game, and how he has played through other assorted injuries in the past, but they worried about any damage they might find after it.
Just last week, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew suffered an injury on a similar looking play to the one in which Mahomes was injured against the Jets.
Minshew suffered a torn UCL and is expected to undergo season-ending surgery, according to sources. He still is working on the timing of when to have the surgery, but he planning to have it.