Ruled out for Week 2 because of the friendly-fire shot he absorbed from teammate Travis Kelce on a crossing pattern in Brazil, Xavier Worthy is not expected to be out long for the Chiefs. The speedy second-year player may end up missing only one game.
Specifics on Worthy’s injury had not surfaced until Sunday, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports the Kansas City wideout is battling a fully torn labrum. Rather than undergo surgery, Worthy will attempt to play through the injury by using a harness.
Earlier this week, Andy Reid said Worthy was unlikely to land on IR. While the Chiefs are holding him out for their Week 2 matchup with the Eagles, they are aiming to have him against the Giants next week. Using a harness to navigate a labrum tear is not unheard of, but a player of Worthy’s size (165 pounds) attempting to do so will make for a more interesting effort.
This does represent positive news for the Chiefs, as a Worthy surgery would have left them in dire straits at receiver. The three-time reigning AFC champions are without Rashee Rice due to a six-game suspension. They will roll out a receiving group headlined by Marquise Brown today, with JuJu Smith-Schuster — re-signed to just a one-year, $1.42MM deal this offseason — likely set to play a key role.
Kansas City has been unable to keep its preferred receiving trio healthy since assembling the pieces last year. During the 2024 preseason, Brown went down with a shoulder injury that did require surgery. Weeks later, Rice suffered an LCL tear that sidelined him for the season’s remainder. Rice has since recovered but is out of the mix due to a suspension in connection with a hit-and-run accident that brought eight felony charges. Brown worked as Patrick Mahomes‘ top target in Week 1, catching 10 passes (on a whopping 16 targets) for 99 yards against the Chargers.
The Chiefs have steadily seen Mahomes fall off the stratospheric pace he set during his early seasons as their starter. Their receiver plan, Travis Kelce‘s presence notwithstanding, has undoubtedly contributed to the soon-to-be 30-year-old passer’s production dip. Kelce’s dominant 2022 season helped the Chiefs after their Tyreek Hill trade, but the increasingly popular tight end has been in decline since that Suepr Bowl LVII-winning season. That component has amplified the issues the Chiefs have run into post-Hill.
Rumors about a Hill-Chiefs reunion appear premature, with the Dolphins holding off on any trade talks involving the mercurial standout. The Chiefs are also focusing on having Worthy healthy and paired with Rice (come late October) rather than reacquiring the star they developed, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
While Mahomes remains one of the NFL’s best players, the Chiefs have ranked 15th in scoring offense in each of the past two years. They have increasingly relied on Steve Spagnuolo‘s defense for protection against running into shootout game scripts, but that unit struggled against the Chargers. The Eagles will present a challenge as well, but the team will hope to begin reassembling its receiving corps soon after this Super Bowl LIX rematch.