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Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Andy Reid intended to send a message with his first offensive playcall of the preseason last week when he had Xavier Worthy run a post pattern and made him the first read for Patrick Mahomes.
He wanted to establish that big plays are back in the Kansas City Chiefs‘ passing game.
The Chiefs’ opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars, had other plans. They moved a safety to help with coverage on Worthy and got early pressure on Mahomes, forcing him to make a quicker throw to receiver Marquise Brown.
“It kind of took away my play,” Worthy said. “Kind of upset about that one, but it happens.”
Worthy only played four snaps against the Jaguars and didn’t get any passes thrown his way. But there will be more chances for him, perhaps as soon as Saturday’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium: Brown wound up dislocating his shoulder on the play.
The Chiefs expect Brown to return early in the regular season. Reid was noncommittal about Brown’s chances of playing in the Sept. 5 regular season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, saying only “We’ll see.”
In the meantime, the Chiefs need Worthy and others to make up for his absence.
“We’ve got to keep rolling and we’ve got the guys to do it,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said.
The Chiefs were intrigued as training camp progressed by their playmaking possibilities with a lineup that featured fast wide receivers like Worthy and Brown in combination with Rashee Rice, who isn’t as fast or as much of a deep threat but excels at shorter routes and running after the catch.
“We can just move them around as different pieces to the puzzle and then they’ve got to make plays,” Nagy said. “The one thing you see from all of three of those guys is they have phenomenal tracking ability.”
That’s all on hold, at least for now. The early beneficiary of Brown’s absence in practice is Justin Watson, who is taking many of the snaps that would have gone to Brown.
Watson last season was tied for second among the Chiefs’ wide receivers in catches with 27. The Chiefs may have to keep seven receivers when the season begins to compensate for Brown’s injury. Others competing for roster spots include Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, Nikko Remigio and Justyn Ross.
“The positive is that he’s going to be back,” Reid said of Brown. “We’ve also got other guys that can step in and play. We will be OK there. It’s just we’re pulling for him to get back, obviously.”
Hardman, Moore and Ross played for the Chiefs last season, but none showed that he can be a consistent threat. Remigio joined Kansas City last year as an undrafted rookie but missed all of the season with an injury.
At least until Brown returns, those players could be part of the solution. But Worthy will be asked to be their big-play receiver.
“In college I kind of had the freedom to get the ball anywhere in the field,” Worthy said. “Reverses, bubble [screens], deep passes, intermediate. So just being able to have that here, just get the ball in my hands, I feel like I’d be a threat with the ball in my hands.”
Worthy has caught his share of deep passes at training camp. Many of them happened with Brown also in the lineup. The challenge for Worthy and the Chiefs is to get those plays without him.
“Just him being on the field with me, all of us, it’d be a huge threat,” Worthy said. “Just waiting [for Brown] to get back.”