Chiefs Balance WR Confidence vs. Injury

The Kansas City Chiefs have a few questions at wideout this season.

The newly signed Marquise "Hollywood" Brown is currently out with a shoulder injury, and while he's not expected to be out for an extended period, he could miss some time.

Second-year standout Rashee Rice was expected to have a bigger part of the offense this year - and still might - but while he's dealing with legal issues back in Dallas, there's a chance he could miss significant time with a league suspension.

With all the uncertainty, rookie speedster Xavier Worthy could have an increased role, which might not be such a bad thing. But it's tough to manage playing time in the preseason for potential stars, even for rookies. And quarterback Patrick Mahomes knows while playing time is necessary to build chemistry and confidence, there's a fine line between that and risking injury.

"It was super important," Mahomes said. "Obviously, you saw that we were kind of majoring in that early, trying to get him some routes where he can go out there and win.

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"And then getting Rashee involved a little bit, it's finding that right balance because you want to not put them in harm's way too much but you want them to go out there and get some confidence going. I was glad to get both of those guys going early."

How much more playing time will Mahomes get with Worthy and Rice in the preseason? We'll find out on Thursday night as the Chiefs wrap up the exhibition season against the Bears at Arrowhead.