KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — In some respects, wide receiver Marquise Brown has been waiting for the Kansas City Chiefs to open the season against the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday night in Brazil for more than 13 months.
That's how long ago he hurt his shoulder on the first play of his first preseason game with the Chiefs last year.
Sure, the fleet-footed pass catcher nicknamed “Hollywood” made it back for a couple of games late last season, and he was on the field for a playoff run that culminated in a lopsided Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia. But Brown is the first to admit that the recovery from shoulder surgery and lack of practice reps had a lot to do with his relatively minimal impact.
Nine catches for 91 yards in two regular-season games. Five for 50 yards in the postseason.
“Even before I got here, I didn't finish the season in Arizona,” said Brown, whose 2023 season was cut short by heel injuries. “So I feel like this is one of the first seasons in a while that I'm able to start the season healthy."
The Chiefs certainly need him on the field. They headed for Brazil on Wednesday without Rashee Rice, who will be serving the first game of a six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, and fourth-round draft pick Jalen Royals, who has been dealing with a knee injury. That leaves them with second-year pro Xavier Worthy, veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster and unheralded Nikko Remigio, Tyquan Thornton and Jason Brownlee on their wide receiver depth chart.
Brown may be the biggest X-factor in the group. At his best, he caught 91 passes for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns while on the field for 16 games in 2021 with Baltimore. At his worst, he's spent so much time dealing with injuries that he has been rendered an afterthought; only twice in his six-year career has he played at least 16 games.
“Listen, he's done everything. He looked good out there running around,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said this week. “He just needs to get in the game and play. As far as practice goes, he's done everything.”
Brown didn't play at all in the preseason, though. He missed a chunk of training camp with an ankle injury, and he only made it back in time for the exhibition finale against the Bears. But rather than risk another setback, Reid continued to hold him out of game action, which means he will step on the field for real Friday night for the first time since February.
“I think he'll be OK. He's a veteran guy,” Reid said. “If he's younger, I'd be a little bit more worried about it. But he's a veteran guy that kind of knows how to go about it, and I think he should be fine."
Patrick Mahomes is comfortable with his wide receiver situation, too.
“I think we prepared a little bit in the offseason just for other guys to have to step up in certain roles,” he said. “(General manager Brett) Veach and them have brought in a lot of receiver depth, so that guys can kind of step up and take over in different spots. It won't be just one guy. It'll be multiple guys that will kind of step up and make plays.”
That depth is a luxury the way last season went. Kansas City not only lost Brown in the preseason but Rice to a knee injury early in the season. And while they are still without Rice — albeit for a different reason — they at least have Hollywood on the field.
Now, the Chiefs just have to keep him there.
Brown was sidelined in his rookie season in 2019 by an ankle injury. He sprained his knee the following season in practice. The next year, it was hamstring and thigh injuries that slowed him down. Then came the heel injury in Arizona. And ultimately, the SC joint separation to his shoulder last season in Jacksonville, which kept him out until January.
No wonder he feels as if Friday night's season opener against the Chargers has been a long time coming.
“Really excited, you know, just to take the field with all the guys,” Brown said. “Just ready to showcase what we can do.”
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FILE - Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown (5) runs after a catch as cornerback Miles Battle (45) defends during NFL football training camp on July 27, 2024, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
