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 Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. In fact, he’ll be out for the foreseeable future.
The pass catcher is not expected to play in the 2024 regular season, according to ESPN. This report comes after Kansas City elected to place Brown on injured reserve earlier this week, and the receiver is now slated to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder.
On Friday, Brown confirmed his trip to injured reserve 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.” While this report notes that Brown is not expected to be back this regular season, it adds that there is the possibility of a return in the playoffs but no sooner than mid-January.
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 a prior report noted that his shoulder was not healing as it needed to, so injured reserve and surgery was the next step.
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.
