Will Patrick Mahomes travel with Chiefs to Vegas in Week 18? Plus, injury updates
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Patrick Mahomes will not travel to Week 18; he remains with team rehabbing.
- Third-string Chris Oladokun will start Week 18 after managing prior game.
- Most starters, including Travis Kelce, are expected to play; Trey Smith doubtful.
The Kansas City Chiefs have one final game remaining in the 2025 season — a Week 18 road matchup against the Raiders. At the conclusion of the NFL’s Week 17 action, the league announced the game will kick off in Sunday’s late-afternoon window.
On Monday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed that quarterback Patrick Mahomes will not travel with the team to Las Vegas for the game as he continues the early stages of his recovery from knee surgery.
“He’s around, so he’s in the building and working, doing his rehab and spending a lot of hours doing it,” Reid said. “He’s really attacked that and will continue to do that. So he’s around and sees the guys, but most of his time is being spent rehabbing.”
With Mahomes (and backup QB Gardner Minshew) both sidelined, third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun will make his second consecutive start.
After a short week of preparation ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Denver Broncos, Oladokun completed 13 of 22 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. KC had an opportunity to tie the game late but ultimately fell 20-13.
Oladokun could benefit from a full week of preparation this time around.
“He’ll get a normal week in of work, and (I) look forward to seeing what he does with that,” Reid said. “He did a nice job last week of getting everything together and organized in his mind and was able to manage the game well there.”
Reid added that most of his starters are expected to play, including tight end Travis Kelce, whose future continues to be the subject of speculation. The exception is right guard Trey Smith, whose status for Sunday’s game remains up in the air.
“The only one I think is questionable there would be Trey,” Reid said. “He kind of pushed through that ankle, and he would probably push through this game, too, but I’m most likely going to hold him back a little bit. That thing’s been bugging on him for a while. That’d be probably the only one.”
Reid and Oladokun will begin their final round of 2025 game-week press conferences on Wednesday. The Chiefs will hold three practices this week before traveling to Nevada on Saturday.
This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 1:19 PM.
