Andy Reid Provides Update on Chiefs Rookie WR After Xavier Worthy Injury

During his Monday press conference, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke on the injury status of rookie WR Jalen Royals. In Friday night’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil, second-year WR Xavier Worthy went down with a dislocated shoulder when he collided with his teammate, TE Travis Kelce.

With the Chiefs’ top receiver, Rashee Rice, out five more games due to a suspension, Kansas City will need all they help they can get at wide receiver. Royals has been dealing with a knee injury recently and did not play against the Chargers, though details as to his timeline have been scant.

“Yeah, Jalen’s done a good job with his rehab,” Reid said. “Again, we’ll just see how that ends up this week. We’ve got a couple days here that we’ve had, so guys are making good progress on that. But we’ll see where Royals is. If neither [Royals or Worthy] play, we’ve got the guys that we played with the other night that are good football players.”

Hollywood Brown Will Be Relied Upon Heavily With Worthy Out

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is a former first-round pick in his own right, back in 2019 with the Baltimore Ravens. He was traded to the Cardinals in 2022 and played two seasons in Arizona before signing with the Chiefs last offseason in free agency. Though he suffered a shoulder injury in the preseason and missed most of the year, he’s healthy now and will be the Chiefs’ go-to guy in the passing game with Worthy and Rice out.

Brown’s best season came in 2021, his third with the Ravens. That year, he had 1,008 yards on 91 catches, with six touchdowns. He became QB Lamar Jackson’s go-to target, and his field-stretching ability paired perfectly with Jackson’s big arm.

Worthy went down on the Chiefs’ first drive in São Paulo. Brown stepped up big-time as the new top dog in the offense, catching 10 passes for 99 yards and converting several critical first downs. Kansas City will need more of that from him while they’re missing so many guys.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Schedule Doesn’t Get Any Easier

Seven of the Chiefs’ first 10 games come against teams that made the playoffs last year. That started with the Chargers, includes their Week 2 game against the defending Super Bowl-champion Eagles, and continues with the Ravens, Lions, Commanders, Bills, and Broncos after that. It’s a brutal stretch to open the season, and it comes as the Chiefs are pretty banged up at receiver.

It will be a true test of what HC Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes can cook up on offense if they’re going to win a number of these games and stay competitive in the AFC playoff picture. No one should doubt the Chiefs, but it’ll be a tall task to repeat as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.