Hollywood Brown Injury Opens the Door for Unlikely Chiefs Reunion
By Jovan Alford
The Kansas City Chiefs opened up the 2024 NFL preseason on Saturday night with a 26-13 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It wasn’t the result that the back-to-back Super Bowl champs were looking for, but it’s preseason, where players are working on different things and trying to make the team.
However, Kansas City received some devastating injury news regarding one of their playmakers after the game on Saturday. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown suffered a sternoclavicular joint dislocation, which will sideline him for some time.
Chiefs fans might remember that star wide receiver Tyreek Hill had a similar injury in 2019, which forced him to miss four games.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Brown was discharged from a Jacksonville-area hospital and has been cleared to return to Kansas City.
Chiefs WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who suffered a dislocation of his sternoclavicular shoulder joint Saturday night, was discharged from a Jacksonville-area hospital this morning and now has been cleared to return to Kansas City.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2024
While it’s great to hear that the veteran wide receiver can return to Kansas City, the Chiefs must consider how they will replace Brown’s big play ability within the offense. Kansas City has Rashee Rice and rookie Xavier Worthy, but those two players aren’t enough.
Therefore, should the Chiefs’ brass consider making a run at a recently cut wide receiver to help them out?
On Friday, the Patriots surprisingly released wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, who struggled mightily in his first season in New England after spending the 2022 campaign with the Chiefs.
Heading into his second season with the Pats, Smith-Schuster was viewed as a potential cut candidate due to his performance in training camp and the overall depth at the position.
Last season with the Patriots, Smith-Schuster only had 29 receptions (47 targets) for 260 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. The vet wideout missed the final four games after being placed on injured reserve due to multiple injuries.
His production last season was a far cry from what we saw from him in 2022 with the Chiefs (78 receptions for 933 yards and three touchdowns).
That said, if Smith-Schuster is healthy as he said in training camp, the Chiefs wouldn’t be wrong to bring him in for a workout. After Brown, Rice, and Worthy, KC’s depth chart is shaky as their next best options are Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman.
Hardman and Watson are solid WR3/4s, but if Brown misses significant time, along with Rice due to his off-the-field stuff, the Chiefs could be in trouble.
However, we’ll see how the Chiefs’ front office approaches this situation as they’ll likely wait to see how the other wideouts fare in training camp and the next preseason game.
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