Chiefs HC Andy Reid effectively rules out WR Hollywood Brown for Week 1 opener vs. Ravens

As expected the Kansas City Chiefs are likely to be without one of their top free agent acquisitions for the Week 1 season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed that WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown won't play against his former team in Week 1. Brown suffered a sternoclavicular joint injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the first offensive play of preseason Week 1 .

"I don't think we'll have Hollywood (Brown) this week. Hollywood won't be back this week. We'll just see how it goes. That kid's amazing, his progress is incredible, but I wouldn't predict him being there this week."

It's certainly a disappointing result for Brown, who was surely looking forward to facing his former team . This was to be expected given the timing of his injury and the recovery timeline.

Justin Watson is the receiver who has stepped up in place of Brown and will likely be in the lineup for him come Week 1.

When will Brown return to action for the Chiefs?

As far as a potential timeline for his return, Chiefs GM Brett Veach touched on that during his Thursday press conference.

"I mean, I could probably confidently say it was similar to Tyreek (Hill}," Veach said. "I think, given that timeline, I think it falls in line with the timeline that Tyreek went through. But I know he's here every day, and he's to the point now where he can laugh without pain, so that's a good thing. So he's certainly trending in the right direction. And look, there was a reason why we didn't put him on the IR to start the season. So I think within that window, I defer to Rick (Burkholder), but I feel like he's probably on that trajectory Tyreek was on."

Hill suffered that same injury in Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season. He missed Week 2-5 and returned for the team's Week 6 game. Brown missed two preseason games and a third week this past week, which means he could potentially be in line to return for Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. I still tend to believe that the target return date will be Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Related: One thing to love about each of the Chiefs' newest players acquired during 53-man roster cuts