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.
Raiders’ Progress Under Carroll Faces Crucial Challenge This Weekend
LAS VEGAS, Nev. –Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll spoke from the podium at team headquarters before Friday's practice. This week, the Raiders will visit the Washington Commanders on Sunday, 10:00 a.m. PT, FOX, KOMP 92.3FM, and KRLV “Raider Nation Radio 920AM”.)
To view his comments, watch below.
Q: Obviously, no Jayden Daniels, but on a trip like this, is it more about you guys rather than those guys?
Head Coach Pete Carroll: "Well, we know what you guys know. We've read what you've read. We'll see what happens. If DQ [Dan Quinn] finalized it, I don't know that right now, but regardless, yeah, it doesn't change anything for us at all.
And we've talked about both guys playing all week long, and we've looked at film of both guys all week long, so that's what they're dealing with. Yeah, we have to get out there and get our game right and make sure everybody's got their head in the right direction, and we're going and playing a great football game. This is a winning football club. Danny's [Dan Quinn] turned it around in no time. Had a great season last year, and so, they've got a winning mentality, and they're going to be hard as heck at home. So, that's all. We need to go play our game. That's the challenge."
Q: When you turn on the film, watching Marcus Mariota and this offense, how do you think that they utilized his talents?
Coach Carroll: "It looked very similar. The same play, same style. He's a runner. He's run all through his career. Jayden [Daniels] is a fantastic all-around athlete. Well, so is [Marcus] Mariota. So, we would think Marcus would do all of the same stuff as we've seen on film, from throwing the ball down the field to keeping it and all the rest and scrambling, all of that."
Q: What challenges does someone like a Deebo Samuel Sr. present?
Coach Carroll: "Yeah, Deebo [Samuel] -- we've played against Deebo for a lot of years and have great respect for his game. He's really physical. He's more physical than most players at that position, and they'll get the ball in his hands, they'll give him chances to do things. We know that that's going to happen, so we just have to be alert and make sure that we don't leave him unattended to. I have great respect for him because he's so physical, and he plays that way with great tempo and speed and all, so I got a lot of respect."
