Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says on 'Opening Night' of Super Bowl week that he intends to "play through" his right ankle injury in Sunday's big game against the Philadelphia Eagles; "I'm going to push it. I'll try to leave it all on the line"
Tuesday 7 February 2023 17:58, UK
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts says he hopes the first ever matchup between two Black QBs in a Super Bowl will help inspire the next generation.
Hurts will face off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday - live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm (Kick-off, 11.30pm) - and the pair, as well as every member of both teams, faced the media for the first time at 'Opening Night' to kick-start Super Bowl week in Arizona.
Hurts, asked of the significance of his and Mahomes' historic meeting, said: "The first time for two [Black QBs] to go head-to-head, that's uplifting the next generation of quarterbacks.
"That four-year-old, five-year-old kid back in Houston, back in Philly, back in Texas, Louisiana, wherever across the world, it shows that regardless of what someone may say or have an opinion about you, you can do it.
"I value the platform I have, I'm sure like Pat does, as well. We just want to inspire the next people."
As for Mahomes, the main questions he faced from the media on Monday night surrounded the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Chiefs' divisional round playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars which subsequently troubled him in the AFC Championship win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mahomes performed brilliantly in both games, despite being notably hobbled with the injury, and he near-guaranteed his status for Sunday's big game by saying he intends to "leave it all on the line" against the Eagles.
"You won't know until you get out there in the game," Mahomes said. "But I'm going to push it.
"I'll try to leave it all on the line. I think you all saw that in the last game that I played.
"It's about relying on your team-mates... I'm not trying to do too much. But I'll definitely be in a better spot [than] when I was out there last week [in the AFC Championship]."
It's not the first time that Mahomes has been hampered by injury heading into a Super Bowl, with the superstar QB troubled by turf toe when they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close the 2020 season.
Sunday's game will be his third Super Bowl appearance in four years, having won his first in 2019, rallying the team from a 20-10 deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the San Francisco 49ers.
"The win is amazing," Mahomes said. "It's one of the best moments of your entire life. You take away all the positives from that.
"But that loss, that stings. That motivates you for years. What it's done for me is it's motivated me to be back in this game again. I want to make sure that I can have that winning feeling and not that losing one because that losing feeling is one you'll never forget.
"You learned that you can't take things for granted. You can't come to a game and not have every box checked. I thought we did, but obviously we didn't and we lost that game and you had to use it as motivation to get back here."
Mahomes added: "I think the biggest motivating factor is to step on that field and try to be the best. We know we've got a great challenge with the Philadelphia Eagles, so it will be a great game."
Hurts, meanwhile, is confident about the Eagles' mindset entering into Sunday's Super Bowl, his first in just his third year in the NFL.
"I didn't put in all that work for no reason," he said. "I put all this work in, we put all this work in, to have opportunities like this. It'll be a fun one.
"We just want to go out there and do what we've done this whole entire time, to try and play clean football and play together.
"We've come here to finish the job."
Asked if he had anything planned for Sunday's pre-game speech, Hurts added: "Everything comes from the heart.
"I prepare. I try to think about something that will get the guys going, but I don't need to say too much.
"We've put all that work in... we want to go out there and play our best game when we need it most."
Watch Super Bowl LVII - Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles - live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm on Sunday, February 12, with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Christian Wilkins and Efe Obada among the guests joining Neil Reynolds and Hannah Wilkes for 90 minutes of build-up to the big game.
