Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes returns after ankle injury, briefly replaced by Chad Henne vs. Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes injured his right ankle late in the first quarter of their divisional playoff matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday afternoon, and was briefly replaced by backup Chad Henne.

Mahomes went down after trying to complete a pass between two Jaguars defenders near midfield at Arrowhead Stadium, and came up limping after one of those defenders landed directly onto his ankle.

Mahomes stayed in the game, but he was noticeably in pain through the rest of the quarter. He was hopping while trying to hand the ball off on the next play, and later threw a short pass off of one foot to tight end Travis Kelce to end the quarter.

Mahomes hopped to the bench at the break, where the Chiefs training staff taped up his ankle. He then returned to start the second quarter and finished a drive that ended when the Chiefs settled for a 50-yard field goal, which gave them a 10-7 lead at the time.

Mahomes watched the next Jaguars drive from the sideline for quite some time, and appeared to be resisting calls to go to the locker room and have his ankle looked at. Right before the Jaguars punted the ball away, though, Mahomes was seen slamming his coat down on the sideline before taking off for the locker room with the Chiefs' training staff. He received X-rays on his ankle there, which reportedly came back negative.

Henne then came in to replace Mahomes. Henne took over to start the drive backed up at his own 2-yard line after an impressive Jaguars punt.

Mahomes was back on the sideline just a few plays later standing behind coach Andy Reid, though Henne continued to run the drive for Kansas City. The Chiefs officially listed Mahomes as questionable to return.

Henne didn't have any trouble taking over for Mahomes. The 37-year-old veteran mounted a 98-yard drive and completed it with a touchdown pass to Kelce — which marked Kelce's second of the game. Henne closed out the first half, and gave the Chiefs a 17-10 lead at the break.

Mahomes, however, returned to start the second half.

He seemed much more comfortable on his ankle, which was heavily taped, but he was still hopping around a bit. Mahomes led the Chiefs to one first down on the drive, but it eventually stalled and they had to punt.

The Chiefs beat the Jaguars 27-20 to reach the AFC championship game, where they'll take on either the Buffalo Bills or Cincinnati Bengals. Mahomes finished throwing 22-of-30 for 195 yards with two touchdowns.