Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is ¡°ahead of schedule¡± in ?his return from a knee injury, according to team owner Clark Hunt.

Mahomes, 30, tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 loss to the Los ?Angeles Chargers. The two-time NFL MVP sat ?out the ?rest of the season and the Chiefs (6-11) ?missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

¡°By every indication, Patrick is ahead of schedule, and ?he¡¯s worked really hard to be ahead of schedule,¡± Hunt said ?this week at the NFL¡¯s annual meeting in Phoenix. ¡°Knowing how that plays out in terms ?of being ready for ?contact, I don¡¯t think any of us can speculate. But he¡¯s doing fantastic, and ?we certainly hope ?we¡¯re going to bounce back this year. ?We absolutely think we¡¯re a playoff team again, ?for ?sure.¡±

With Mahomes¡¯ timetable uncertain, Clark said the NFL isn¡¯t likely to choose the Chiefs to play in the NFL kickoff game on Wednesday, Sept. 9, ?against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in Seattle.

¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s on the table anymore for us to be in Seattle (for the opener),¡± he told Front Office Sports. ¡°From a ?league ?standpoint, I think there would be some concern ?whether our quarterback will be ready to go. ?My guess is the league won¡¯t want to take that risk.¡±

Mahomes has guided the Chiefs to five Super Bowl appearances and three championships since being drafted ?10th overall in 2017. He is 95-31 as a starter in the regular season and 17-4 in the postseason.

The other quarterbacks on the Kansas City roster are Justin Fields, Jake Haener and Chris Oladokun.