Quarterback (QB) Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs will start in the NFL American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, the Chiefs' head coach Andy Reid confirmed on Friday.

Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain to his right leg in the Chiefs' 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round at home on January 21. Though he returned and played through the competition, Mahomes was obviously limited of his mobility. As the QB who leads the NFL in going out of the pocket to pass, he can't afford to lose this weapon.

"He's moving around [well]. He can go out and play," Reid said while telling reporters that his team has an expansive enough game plan for any possible scenario. "We have enough in the game plan where you can kind of pick and choose where you want to go with it. You have a variety of things that you can go to. Obviously you don't use all the plays in the game plan, but they're available and so if you have to go a certain direction, you can go that direction with the calls."

Mahomes attended all three days of the Chiefs' practice this week. "I feel like I can still do a lot of things but we'll see as we get closer and closer," he said. "We'll see during the game. You can't fully do [in practice] exactly what it's going to be like in those moments in the game. All I can do is prepare myself the best way possible and then when we get in the game you hope adrenaline takes over and you can make those throws when you need to."

The Chiefs' star tight end Travis Kelce is listed as questionable for Sunday's game due to a back injury, but he participated in the full practice on Friday. He scored two touchdowns against the Jaguars.

The Chiefs lost to the Bengals in all of their previous games, including in the AFC Championship Game last season. Joe Burrow led the Bengals to knock out the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round game on January 22.