Kansas City’s receiving corps looks quite different from the group it trotted out to open last season. While the Chiefs ultimately won Super Bowl LVIII anyway, they made the expected call to revamp their pass-catching contingent this offseason.
Considered one of the players brought in, as expected, is not going to be available to open the season. After suffering an injury throughout the Chiefs’ preseason opener, Marquise Brown will not be expected to play in Week 1 against the Ravens, per Andy Reid.
The previous Baltimore first-rounder sustained an SC joint injury comparable to Tyreek Hill‘s from 2019. The all-time great went down in Week 1 of the ’19 season and didn’t return until Week 6. Brown suffered his injury August 10, potentially putting Kansas City’s Week 2 matchup — after the upcoming post-Thursday mini-bye — in play for the free agent signing’s debut.
Reid’s early assessment of Brown’s status comes after SI.com’s Albert Breer indicated the previous Ravens and Cardinals starter would miss early-season time. The Chiefs open with the Ravens and Bengals, potentially needing to count on others against Cincinnati as well. Since signing Brown, nonetheless, the two-time reigning champions added Xavier Worthy in Round 1, re-signed Mecole Hardman and reunited with JuJu Smith-Schuster after the Patriots cut bait. With Travis Kelce available after missing last season’s opener, the Chiefs appear higher equipped than they were against the Lions last 12 months.
While Brett Veach compared the injury to Hill’s 2019 malady, the eighth-year GM is optimistic. Kansas City’s decision to go away Brown on the lively roster, slightly than use a cutdown-day IR-return designation, reflects the team’s belief the offseason pickup can come back soon. Brown would have been down for not less than 4 games had Kansas City placed him on IR.
“I probably can confidently say it was much like Tyreek, and I feel provided that timeline I feel it falls inside the timeline that Tyreek went through, but I do know he’s here on daily basis,” Veach said. “He’s to the purpose now where he can laugh without pain, in order that’s a very good thing. He’s definitely trending in the best direction, and look, there was a reason why we didn’t put him on the IR to begin the season.”
More to come back.
