The Kansas City Chiefs will take the field for Week 2's game against the Cincinnati Bengals without one of their prized free agent pickups. That's nothing new for the back-to-back champs, though, and it'll remain the case for weeks – and likely months – to come.
Following a sternoclavicular injury suffered in his opening game of the preseason, wideout Marquise "Hollywood" Brown was placed on the injured reserve list earlier this week. That originally led many to conjure up Week 7's game against the San Francisco 49ers as a potential early return date, although nothing of the sort is viewed as realistic now.
On Thursday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Brown will miss "more like months" following surgery. On Saturday night, a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN added necessary but unfortunate context to that timeline.
"Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown, who was put on injured reserve Friday because of a shoulder injury that requires surgery, is not expected to play in the regular season, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter," the story began. "There still was a chance Brown could return for the postseason, but he was not expected back any sooner than mid-January, sources told Schefter."
In the aftermath of Brown going on IR, Joshua Brisco of Kansas City Chiefs On SI wrote about the state of the Chiefs' receiver room. He pointed to Rashee Rice and rookie Xavier Worthy (who combined for 150 receiving yards and two scores in Week 1) as the duo to watch. That's likely going to be the case, as Rice is a dominant post-catch threat who looks more comfortable in year two and Worthy might be the fastest player on the team.
With the aforementioned two in the fold and considerable depth behind them, Kansas City should be fine at the receiver spot. On the other hand, they're on thin ice if another top option goes down. In the event of another injury, it might be time to consider an external acquisition. Walking the tightrope until Brown's return was always expected, but him potentially missing the entire regular season leaves far less margin for error or misfortune.
If Brown does return before the Chiefs play their final game, it's a bonus. Once surgery is completed on Monday (September 16), all eyes look ahead to rehab. Could the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs on January 18 or 19 be a realistic target? It's too early to definitively tell, and that's assuming Kansas City even reaches that point. It would be four months into Brown's recovery, however, so perhaps that avenue will open up down the road.
For now, all the Chiefs can do is try to stack wins without Brown and all Brown can do is focus on his long-term health. The book on the former first-round pick's 2024-25 efforts may not be shut just yet.
