Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy's speedy development just became that much more important

Kansas City Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy will be relied upon during his rookie season much more than anticipated after the latest news.

The team's top free agent acquisition this offseason, WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, is set to miss significant time after it was determined he'd need surgery on SC joint dislocation . He'll be placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss months, not weeks, and possibly the entire 2024 NFL season. It's a big blow for a new-look Kansas City passing attack, which was expected to feature Brown alongside Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice.

With Brown out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Worthy's Week 1 performance and further development become much more important. There will be snaps to go around, and he's the player who could capitalize and keep the offense rolling.

“He (Xavier Worthy) did a nice job for us," Chiefs HC Andy Reid told reporters on Wednesday. "Again, even with his size he was willing to get in the mix of the run game part of it. Having the success he had I think is a positive for a young guy to get going. Are you guaranteed two touchdowns every game? That’s not necessarily in the contract, but it was great for him to get started that way. He knows that he can play at this level now and if he had any questions – I didn’t sense he had any questions – but if he did, those were answered.”

Xavier Worthy's Week 1 performance was a spark in the powderkeg

Worthy played 34 snaps on offense in Week 1, which was good for 64% of the team's total offensive snaps. Despite what Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt may think , Worthy's Week 1 performance was just the tip of the iceberg. His role should continue to grow, especially given how calm and collected the rookie was as he went about his business.

“I think it’s just going to be a spark," Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said. "It shows what he (Xavier Worthy) can do. Obviously, it showed his speed. It showed how he’s able to run routes and find open spaces. It just kind of gives him that confidence. I think he already had it anyways, but to show that he can do it on Sundays or whatever day of the week that we’re playing. It’s just kind of a start for him. We want him to keep building. We want to get him more and more involved in the offense, but a great start.”

As the Chiefs continue to build on what was an impressive debut, Worthy is honed in on a specific task. That's to carry over what he felt was a successful week of preparation and understanding what NFL defensive coordinators are trying to throw at him and his teammates.

“I feel like a lot of things that I kind of focused on was understanding the defense," Worthy explained on Wednesday. "I feel like I did that. So, I just want to carry that over to this week and every other week, just understanding the defense (and) knowing what they’re going to do before every snap.”

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