The Kansas City Chiefs‘ preparation for the Denver Broncos rolls on, but the club has some injuries to monitor as the week continues.
Thursday’s injury report saw not just running back Isiah Pacheco make his expected appearance, but another offensive player was added to the list.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy Limited in Thursday’s Practice With Ankle Injury
Per the team, wide receiver Xavier Worthy was limited in practice on Thursday afternoon. He was joined by defensive end George Karlaftis, who’s nursing a thumb ailment. Karlaftis was limited on Wednesday as well.
Worthy didn’t carry any injury status on Wednesday’s report.
It isn’t confirmed that this is a new issue for Worthy, which leads room for interpretation. The second-year wideout wasn’t on Week 9’s pre-bye injury report, but he’d spent time prior to that with shoulder and ankle designations. The speedy receiver originally got hurt in Week 1’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. A collision with tight end Travis Kelce left him with a dislocated shoulder, causing him to miss Weeks 2 and 3 as a result.
Worthy then developed the seemingly minor ankle problem. Nonetheless, he’s appeared a bit hindered in games at times. The 2024 first-round pick has managed to play through any discomfort, logging 295 snaps in his last six games. That’s good for 71.8% of available reps, peaking at the 84.1% and 83.3% marks in Kansas City’s two most recent outings.
Head coach Andy Reid didn’t mention a Worthy injury when he spoke to the media on Wednesday. He’ll address media again on Friday afternoon. With Sunday marking kickoff of Chiefs-Broncos, the team will soon reveal whether the ankle ailment is anything more than a blip on the radar.
Kansas City Exercising Balancing Act With Talented Receivers
Worthy being available helps the Chiefs, giving them a good problem to solve. He, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Tyquan Thornton form quite the group of wideouts.
Entering Week 11, Kelce and Brown are tied for the team lead with 53 targets. Among wide receivers, Brown’s 389 yards and 4 touchdowns pace the field. Thornton (311 yards and 3 touchdowns), Smith-Schuster (291 yards and a touchdown) and Worthy (256 yards and a touchdown) are playing great complementary roles. Since returning from suspension in Week 7, Rice already has 215 yards and 3 times reaching pay dirt.
Reid isn’t worried about having to feed so many mouths.
“Well we try to get them all involved the best we can,” Reid said. “Some games, you’re just going to have that where they’re taking somebody away, and that’s how it goes. That’s how the coverage goes, that’s how the play call goes, so on. We’re not down on Xavier Worthy, we know he’s a good player, and we like to get the ball in the good players’ hands the best way we can. It just hasn’t rolled that way.”
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy echoed a similar sentiment on Thursday, praising the “selflessness” of the wideout collective.
“As much as we can,” Nagy said. “There are times you kind of look back after a game and you look at some of the playing time — where guys are, and where are they at schematically? Like Coach [Reid] said Week 1, there’s only one football. I think when our guys understand that, which they do, they do such a great job.”
Now, the Chiefs will hope Worthy can play in a pivotal Week 11 bout and stay healthy thereafter.
