Did an injury disrupt Chiefs’ wide receiver room three plays into the season?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rookie Xavier Worthy exited early with a shoulder injury after three plays.
- Chiefs lacked top receivers Rashee Rice and Jalen Royals due to absence, injury.
- Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster led a depleted five-man receiver group.
An injury disaster struck the Chiefs three plays into the season opener on Friday night against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Chargers won the coin-toss, deferred and kicked to the Chiefs. Facing a third-and-6 from the Kansas City 28, Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy and tight end Travis Kelce crossed routes. Worthy’s shoulder banged into Kelce’s body ... and down went Worthy as the pass fell incomplete.
Worthy remained on the turf before walking slowly off the field, and then to the locker room. By the second quarter, Worthy was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a shoulder injury.
That left the Chiefs with five wide receivers for the game: Marquise “Hollywood’” Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Jason Brownlee and Nikko Remigio.
After the game, which the Chiefs lost 27-21, Andy Reid said Worthy will have an MRI to determine the damage.
“We’ll know more when we get back (to Kansas City),” Reid said.
The Chiefs were suddenly missing a very important player. As a rookie, Worthy topped the Chiefs’ wide receivers corps in receptions last season, with 59.
“Obviously other guys had to step up,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “I thought Tyquan, Hollywood and JuJu did a great job filling some of those roles.
“But (Worthy is) someone who is a huge part of our game plan. It’s someone we’re counting on to make plays against some of the main coverage they played. It took us a little bit to get going.”
Worthy’s role was elevated last year because of an injury to wide receiver Rashee Rice. In a game at the Chargers, Rice suffered a season-ending knee injury when he banged his leg on Mahomes’ helmet as both players were attempting to make a tackle after an interception.
Rice was unavailable for Friday’s game, serving the first game of his six-game league suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. The Chiefs also were playing without rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals, who is recovering from an injury.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 9:02 PM.