Chiefs’ Andy Reid on Xavier Worthy’s Injury Progress, Week 3 Availability
While the 2025-26 NFL season is still in its infancy, the Kansas City Chiefs have already dealt with a multitude of injury situations. The offensive side of the ball, in particular, is banged up as September rolls on.
Two players dominated the attention this week, with both being wide receivers. 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy (shoulder) and 2025 fourth-rounder Jalen Royals (knee) are rehabbing from respective ailments.
Fortunately for the reigning AFC champions, things are moving along nicely. Speaking to the media on Friday, head coach Andy Reid provided the latest on Kansas City’s injuries.
Andy Reid Drops Xavier Worthy Injury Update for Chiefs’ Week 3 Game
Reid says Worthy has “done a nice job” in practice, but he stopped short of confirming he’d play on Sunday against the New York Giants.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “I know questions will be [about] Xavier and so on. I’ve just got to see. I mean, he practiced today and did a good job. Jalen Royals practiced today. Both of them ran around pretty good. We’ll just see how it goes.”
When asked whether it’s a question of shoulder stability, readiness or re-injury risk, Reid again deferred to a wait-and-see approach. He said he’d consult with Rick Burkholder, vice president of sports medicine and performance, to assess the wideout’s progress later on Friday. Worthy suffered his dislocated shoulder in Week 1 and was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking on Wednesday, quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed what it meant to have Worthy back on the practice field.
“Yeah, I think more than anything having him out there is just a threat in general,” Mahomes said. “He can, at any moment, take a pass — short or long — he can take it to the house. Having him out on the practice field was very encouraging last week. Obviously, we didn’t know after that injury in Brazil but seeing him out there, he wanted to stay out there. It was kinda like holding him back.
“Hopefully we can go through a good week of practice and have him out there but if not, guys will step up and guys will make plays. I’m just excited to get those guys back and be able to go out there and try to have some success on offense better than we did this last week.”
Jalen Royals Set to Make NFL Debut on Sunday Against Giants?
The bad news for the Chiefs is defensive end Mike Danna (quad) and cornerback Kristian Fulton (ankle) both missed Friday’s practice. That doesn’t bode well for either player’s availability for Sunday Night Football. On the bright side, Royals being a full participant on Thursday and getting in good work once again on Friday is a tremendously positive sign. It might just set up his professional debut.
That would be a significant development for the Day 3 pick out of Utah State. Royals not only missed practice leading up to Kansas City’s opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, but he didn’t even travel with the team. Knee tendonitis held the rookie back, but his return to work this week quickly became a full-fledged participation.
In two preseason games, Royals caught 3 passes for 14 yards. In his unofficial debut versus the Arizona Cardinals, he posted a Pro Football Focus overall offense grade of 63.0. Royals’ size and speed could help the Chiefs’ offense in a big way if he plays this weekend.
Without Worthy and Royals, Kansas City has primarily relied on the trio of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Travis Kelce as its options for Mahomes.
UPDATE: Per the Chiefs, both Danna and Fulton have been ruled out for Sunday. Worthy and Royals are questionable.
Bruins Forward Embracing Underdog Mentality
Boston Bruins forward Morgan Geekie scored 33 goals last season, and emerged as a player who may have top-six upside, which is more than anybody expected.
Many believed that he wouldn't be able to score 30 goals, and he had no problem sharing his thoughts about that fact. His previous career high was 17, which he scored the previous season with the Bruins.
"I'm sure nobody that's interviewing me now thought I was going to score 33 goals last year," Geekie said, in response to a question from Connor Ryan about his odds of scoring 30+goals again.
Geekie, who was originally drafted in the third round (67th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, started his career with the AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, signing an Amateur Tryout Agreement. This eventually led to the Hurricanes signing him to his three-year entry-level deal.
After playing a total of just 38 games, over two seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) with the Hurricanes, Geekie was selected by the expansion Seattle Kraken, bringing him from Raleigh to the Emerald City. Geekie would go on to play two seasons with the Kraken, but his potential never really took shape, as he recorded 22 and 28-point seasons, respectively.
The Kraken decided not to qualify Geekie ahead of Free Agency 2023, which opened the door for the Bruins to swoop in and sign him to a two-year $4 million deal. This was a prove-it deal for Geekie, who had some struggles, resulting in being healthy scratched by then head coach Jim Montgomery; however, he managed to turn things around, while playing with David Pastrnak on the Bruins' top line.
Certainly, Pastrnak can make any player look very good, but Geekie's style, which is best described as hard-nosed, physical and responsible on both sides of the puck, deserves some praise as well.
Boston rewarded Geekie with a massive six-year deal, with an average annual value of $5.5 million, betting on him having just scratched the surface with his first 30-plus goal and 50-plus point campaign.
With a weight off his shoulders, not having to worry about contract negotiations, Geekie had the entire offseason to improve on the things that made him successful, his heavy release and fantastic one-timer. Given his size, he could also stand to open up space and create lanes for his teammates by driving hard to the front of the net.
30 goals might not have seemed likely, but now that he has achieved the feat, who says he can't do it again? But Geekie isn't going to talk about it, but rather do what he does, and let his play speak for itself.
