The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to move to 2-0 on the young season when they host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2. Just as they did when they defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the opener, however, they’ll have to do it without wide receiver Hollywood Brown. In fact, he’ll be out for the foreseeable future. Kansas City has elected to place Brown on injured reserve, and the receiver is now slated to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder.
Brown confirmed the news via his social media account and added that the first wave of emotions he felt when learning he needed surgery was of disappointment and frustration.
Head coach Andy Reid also noted that the receiver’s recovery is now “months not weeks.”
Brown suffered the shoulder injury on the very first play of the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars this summer. Patrick Mahomes completed an 11-yard pass to his new receiver, and while Brown came down with the reception, he fell hard on his shoulder and left the game. The hope was that Brown could recoup in time to make a return early in the season, but this latest report notes that his shoulder was not healing as it needed to, so injured reserve was the next step.
Per NFL rules, Brown is required to miss a minimum of four games while on IR, but it sounds like his absence will be longer than that timeframe. After the Chiefs host the Bengals this weekend, they have a two-game road trip beginning in Atlanta against the Falcons in Week 3 and then will be in Los Angeles to face the Chargers in Week 4. Then, the team will be back at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 5 when they host the New Orleans Saints on “Monday Night Football.” It is worth pointing out that the Chiefs will be on the bye in Week 6 and will be in San Francisco to face the 49ers in Week 7.
Brown signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs back in March after spending the previous two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. The 27-year-old initially entered the league as a first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 out of Oklahoma.
In his absence, Kansas City will continue to lean on Rashee RIce and rookie Xavier Worthy. Both were prolific in the opener, with Rice seven of his nine targets for 103 yards, while Worthy tallied two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving) in the winning effort.
