The diagnosis is available. Patrick Mahomes officially has a mild upper ankle sprain.

According to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, Mahomes is now on the same week-to-week schedule that was given to him after the Chiefs’ victory over the Browns on Sunday afternoon. He just had tests to confirm this diagnosis.

The Kansas City Chiefs now face a difficult decision. Everything is based on the subjective nature of the injury itself and is complicated by a number of surrounding factors, all of which contribute to conflicting stresses on both sides.

The most important thing for the Chiefs is making sure Patrick Mahomes is healthy when it matters most, but there is debate about what that means.

The Chiefs are currently number one in the AFC with a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bills. However, the Bills have the tiebreaker in hand, so the Chiefs can really only afford to lose a single game before they fear losing their lead over the conference leaders

The reason the AFC’s top seed is so important is because it allows the entire Chiefs team to rest for a week while all the other playoff contenders compete in the Wild Card round. That means the Chiefs would only need to play two games, both at home at Arrowhead, to get to the Super Bowl, rather than playing three games without a break.

Given that Mahomes is injured and looks exhausted overall, it makes sense to take him and the others to the finish line and give the entire team a well-deserved rest.

On the other hand, Mahomes is already in pain and the nature of an ankle sprain means it can get worse if he isn’t given time to rest and recover. The Chiefs are currently playing three games in 11 days – yes, brutal timing for an injury like this. They have a short week of practice before hosting the Houston Texans on Saturday, and then they have four days before playing in Pittsburgh on Christmas.

Missing Mahomes in these games could cost them the lead they worked so hard to earn. But does it even matter if Mahomes is injured? This is where the tension lies. Of course, it won’t help that Mahomes is so competitive that he’ll be pushing to play to add extra momentum to that side of the argument.