CHIEFS WR MARQUISE BROWN SET TO ‘MISS SOME TIME’ AFTER SUFFERING STERNOCLAVICULAR JOINT DISLOCATION INJURY AGAINST THE JAGUARS
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has been hospitalized after sustaining a sternoclavicular joint dislocation in the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid told reporters after the game.
Reid did not specify how long the injury will keep the sixth-year wide receiver out of playing contention. He did however confirm that Brown’s availability for the start of the regular season is now in question. The Chiefs’ head coach compared the injury to Tyreek Hill’s shoulder injury from 2019, which caused Hill to miss four games.
“As far as injuries go, Hollywood Brown has the same thing that Tyreek [Hill] had, down here actually,” said Reid. “Sternoclavicular post dislocation. They’ve taken him to the hospital, they’ll check him out. They’re working on that as we speak.”
Brown went down on the first play of the game after catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes on an 11-yard gain. The 27–year-old wide receiver was tackled immediately by Jaguars’ cornerback Montaric Brown and landed on his left shoulder. Brown immediately headed to the sideline to be examined by the medical staff and was seen squatting in discomfort while speaking to the Chiefs’ medical personnel. He was subsequently taken to the locker room.
“I think he’ll miss some time,” added Chiefs’ Head Coach Andy Reid. “We’ll just see where he’s at. We’re kind of going through it right now, we’ll know more later on here.”
One of the biggest offseason additions for the Chiefs, Brown is a key part of the defending Super Bowl champions’ offensive identity heading into the 2024 season, alongside the team’s speedy rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy and will be a significant blow if he misses time this season.
Kansas City struggled offensively in 2023 for most of the season, a feature largely attributed to the subpar performances the team received from its wide receiver play and a reason the team went out to sign Hollywood Brown in free agency and draft Xavier Worthy in the first round in April. Both are speedy wideouts that can take the top off of defences, the back to back champions were hoping to have their ‘old’ dynamic offence back this fall.
Chiefs’ wide receivers contributed a total of just 141.8 receiving yards per game (21st) last season with Mahomes registering a meager 6.2 air yards per attempt (31st). The three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback was 1-5 in TD/INT ratio when throwing for more than 20 yards and only completed 28% of his passes (29th) on such attempts.
Mahomes told The Pat McAfee Show back in May that their team is currently built to be more explosive, something that Head Coach Andy Reid has been putting an emphasis on in the offseason.
“I think, this year we’re going to have a team that’s built to throw the ball deep,” said Mahomes. “I mean, Coach Reid’s been preaching it all offseason. We’re going to go back to throwing the deep ball.”
“I have to be smart when we do that but at the same time, I want to be that explosive offense that we’ve seen in the past. It takes pressure off the defense and then when we get up, that’s when [defensive coordinator Steve] Spagnuolo can really show off all those blitzes he’s working on.”
With Mahomes’ favorite wide receiver target Rashee Rice’s future still up in the air due to his legal situation, missing Marquise Brown could be a big blow for the Chiefs, who open the season against Brown’s old team, the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead on September 5th.
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid also said that guard McKade Mettauer hurt his left knee and the Chiefs will evaluate that in the next few days. The rookie offensive lineman limped off the field in the fourth quarter and early reports feared that the former Oklahoma Sooner may have torn his ACL.
The Chiefs opened their preseason with a 26-13 defeat in Jacksonville in a game in which Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and some of the starters played one series before backup Carson Wentz took over for most of the first half.
Kansas City next hosts the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field on Saturday, August 17th.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Eric Johnson. This file is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.