Over the weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs kicked off preseason action in Jacksonville, and one of the new faces making their first appearance in a Chiefs uniform was veteran wide receiver Marquise Brown. Unfortunately, Brown's debut with the Chiefs lasted all of one play, as the speedy wideout known around the league as “Hollywood” was forced to the sideline — and eventually a Jacksonville-area hospital — after suffering a dislocated shoulder.
On Sunday morning, Marquise Brown was released from the hospital and was able to return to Kansas City, but according to ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter, his status for the Chiefs' regular season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, his old team, is officially in doubt.
“Chiefs WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who spent the night at a Jacksonville-area hospital after suffering a dislocation of his sternoclavicular shoulder joint before being discharged this morning, is now back in KC. His status for KC’s regular-season opener remains uncertain.”
Before a pair of disappointing seasons with the Arizona Cardinals all but derailed the progress of his career, Marquise Brown's most productive years came in Baltimore. Over the course of his second and third NFL seasons, Brown hauled in 149 receptions for 1,777 yards and 14 touchdowns, becoming an established big-play threat before our very eyes. It just so happens, that was the exact sort of weapon the Chiefs needed to introduce before beginning their quest to capture the NFL's first three-peat.
Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy provide new dynamic for Chiefs offense
The Chiefs may be back-to-back Super Bowl champions, but there's one troubling trend offensively that could end up keeping them from making NFL history as the first back-to-back-to-back champions. Since allowing Tyreek Hill to depart Kansas City in order to take his talents to South Beach, the Chiefs have sorely missed out on having a bonafide big play threat on the field.
Now one could look at this and say that it was necessary for the development of Patrick Mahomes to have to learn to hit singles and doubles instead of swinging for the proverbial fences every play. Mahomes averaged career lows in average air yards per attempt and yards per completion last season, and that alteration to his approach has actually made Mahomes a far more complete quarterback than he was before. But now, Patrick Mahomes doesn't need to continue to develop. He's checked all of the boxes and proven he can win even in less than ideal circumstances. Now the Chiefs would simply be committing football malpractice if they continued to neglect this facet of their offense.
The additions of Marquise Brown and speedy Texas Longhorns rookie Xavier Worthy are expected to open up the Chiefs offense and bring some fireworks to Arrowhead Stadium after Kansas City finished 15th in scoring last season. We've already seen Mahomes and Worthy connect in training camp, and the two-time MVP has spoken highly about what Marquise Brown brings to the Chiefs offense as well. Now Chiefs fans just need to hope that this shoulder injury won't keep Brown sidelined for too long.
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